Thousands flee Myanmar airstrikes after rebel ambush

About 10,000 villagers in Myanmar’s Sagaing region are fleeing junta airstrikes launched after forces loyal to a shadow pro-democracy government inflicted unusually heavy casualties on a military column, residents told Radio Free Asia. The heartland central region of Sagaing has seen some of the worst violence over the past year with pro-democracy guerrillas, largely from the majority Burman community, hounding junta forces who often respond with heavy artillery and airstrikes. On Wednesday, air force planes bombed Maung Htaung village in Budalin township, about 110 kilometers (68 miles) northwest of the city of Mandalay, destroying buildings and wounding at least two people, a resident said. “A bomb fell on the school and another was dropped near a Buddhist religious building. A third bomb hit a clinic,” said the resident who declined to be identified for fear of reprisals. “A man and a woman were wounded.” Residents of about 10 villages in the area were too frightened to stay in their homes and some took shelter in woods by their fields while others headed to the nearest monasteries and towns, villagers told RFA, estimating that about 10,000 people were displaced, many in urgent need of food. The airstrikes came after anti-junta People’s Defense Force fighters ambushed an infantry column on patrol from a camp in Ku Taw village on Monday.  Nearly half the soldiers in the patrol were killed and most of the rest were captured, according to a spokesman for one of the groups involved in the ambush called the Student Armed Force. “There are 32 dead junta soldiers and 42 were captured,” the spokesman, identified as Maj. Okkar, told RFA.  “The detainees are being held in accordance with the Geneva Convention, in accordance with agreement of the National Unity Government affiliates and local PDFs.”  Four PDF members were wounded in the battle, he added.  RFA has not been able to independently verify the account and calls to the junta’s Sagaing region spokesperson, Nyunt Win Aung, went unanswered by the time of publication. Democracy supporters of the government ousted in the 2021 coup set up the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, to oppose military rule and organize the PDFs operating around the country.  The guerrillas released photographs of what they said were captured junta soldiers. The U.N. refugee agency estimated that 3.1 million people have been displaced internally by fighting in Myanmar since the military overthrew a civilian government in early 2021. Nearly 70,000 have fled to neighboring countries, the UNHCR said in a report published on Thursday. Residents fleeing fighting in Khin-U township, Sagaing region, on March 25, 2024. (Khin-U township Right Information Group) The military has increasingly resorted to airstrikes over recent weeks, in different parts of the country including Sagaing, Shan state in the northeast and Rakhine state in the west, particularly since the junta chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, vowed early last month to recapture areas lost to guerrilla forces. More than 130 people have been killed and more than 70 wounded by airstrikes from Sept. 1 to Sept. 24, across eight states and regions, RFA data shows. RELATED STORIES A new generation in Myanmar risks their lives for change No limits to lawlessness of Myanmar’s predatory regime Month of fighting leaves once-bustling Myanmar town eerily quiet  Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Traders in Myanmar struggle as borders with China remain closed in rebel-held areas

Merchants of Chinese goods in Myanmar are reeling as China keeps its borders closed to areas of the Southeast Asian country that are controlled by anti-junta ethnic rebels, residents in Myanmar told Radio Free Asia. Since the junta took over Myanmar in a coup in February 2021, cross border trade between junta ally China and northern Shan state has amounted to a total of US$9 billion. But after rebel groups seized control of the area, Beijing shut down its border crossings, disrupting the livelihood of those in Myanmar who buy, sell and ship Chinese goods. “Many drivers have faced many difficulties,” a truck driver who works in northern Shan state told RFA Burmese. “In the past, we could drive cargo trucks. Now we have no jobs.” The trucker said that the owners of transportation firms are trying to get work in areas where the borders remain open, out of consideration for their drivers. Rebels control six border crossings with China on the Myanmar side. Five of these are under the control of the Three Brotherhood Alliance – which is made up of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Arakan Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army – while the sixth is under the control of the Kachin Independence Army. Man Wein gate near the Chinese border, Sept. 2019. (RFA) Daily trade at the Kyin Sang Kyawt gate in Shan state’s Muse township was around US$6.6 million daily when it was open.  A resident of Pang Hseng township, who sells produce to Chinese buyers, said the closed border is creating hardship. “We rely on this border gate by selling vegetables to make a living,” the resident said. “Some others buy Chinese products to be sold here. But with the border gate closed now, all of us are facing many challenges, and unemployment has also increased.” Singbyu gate in Muse township is the only open trade route to China in northern Shan state, with limited time for crossing, and the junta has increased custom duties and restrictions. As a result, prices of imported Chinese goods have sharply increased. RFA tried to contact the junta’s spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun to learn more about the situation at the border, but he did not respond by the time of publishing. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Eugene Whong. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Residents of Myanmar’s Lashio flee relentless airstrikes

Hundreds of civilians in the rebel-controlled northeastern Myanmar town of Lashio are fleeing in the face of relentless junta air attacks as the military presses on with an offensive aimed at retaking territory captured by insurgent forces, residents said on Wednesday. Insurgents captured Lashio on Aug. 3, one of the most significant victories for a three-party guerrilla alliance that has made major advances since late last year against the junta that seized power in early 2021. But the junta now appears determined to recapture the town on a major trade link to China and is unleashing its air power to do so, residents say. “The planes normally come when night falls,” one Lashio resident who declined to be identified for security reasons told Radio Free Asia. “We worry about where they’re going to bomb, my home or others .. we pray no one gets hurt,” said the resident who is aiming to flee to the town of Taunggyi, about 25 kilometers (155 miles) to the south. “It’s happening almost every night so we just can’t stay anymore and have to flee again.”  Lashio had a population of nearly 250,000 but more than 200,000 have fled to Taunggyi, and other towns in Shan state such as Kalaw and Nyaung Shwe, as well as to the main cities of Mandalay and Yangon, residents say. RFA tried to contact Khun Thein Maung, a military council spokesman for Shan state, to ask about the situation in Lashio, but he did not answer phone calls. A damaged vehicle in the town of Lashio on Aug. 25 (RFA) The intensifying conflict in Myanmar’s civil war has displaced more than 3 million civilians, the United Nations says, and there’s no sign of the situation improving. The military has been shifting troops from southern to northern Shan state in a bid to recapture Lashio and other towns it has lost to insurgent forces in The Three Brotherhood Alliance, but at least for now it is mostly relying on its air power, rebel officials and residents say. The fighting comes despite peace efforts by neighboring China, which has brokered several short-lived ceasefires over the past year, and a vow by the main rebel force in Lashio, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, to cease fighting and end its cooperation with the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, set up by pro-democracy politicians. China has major investments in Myanmar including oil and natural gas pipelines running from Rakhine state on the Indian Ocean coast through Shan state to its border. Lashio residents said that the telecommunications and internet access in the town had been cut since Tuesday, adding to a growing sense of panic. “I can no longer communicate with home and the planes are bombing every day, so I’m worried,” said another city resident, who also declined to be identified. Residents said it appeared that the MNDAA had cut communication links but RFA was not able to confirm that or to contact an MNDAA spokesperson for comment. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Lucio III Pitlo Philippines

Interview with Lucio Pitlo: Philippines’ Foreign Policy and China’s Influence

In an exclusive interview with IJ-Reportika, Lucio III Pitlo, a seasoned foreign policy and security analyst, shares his insights on the Philippines’ current foreign policy under the Marcos administration. He discusses the nation’s balancing act between major powers like the U.S., China, and Japan, ASEAN’s role in regional security, and how China’s growing influence impacts Southeast Asia. Pitlo also explores the challenges and opportunities facing the Philippines as it navigates complex geopolitical landscapes.

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Prominent Cambodian journalist arrested: rights groups

Award-winning Cambodian freelance journalist Mech Dara, who reported regularly on trafficking and cyberscam compounds, was arrested in the southwestern part of the country on Monday afternoon, a rights groups and local journalists’ association said, though his whereabouts remain unknown.  Six police cars intercepted Dara’s car at the Srae Ambel toll booth in Koh Kong province while he was driving to Phnom Penh, a relative who was with him told human rights group Licadho. Last year, Dara won the U.S. State Department’s human trafficking Hero Award for his coverage of Cambodia’s scam-compounds, where an estimated 100,000 have been forced to work – under threat of violence – as the perpetrators of online scams targeting people across the world. Dara’s reporting included stories for Voice of Democracy linking Cambodian businessman Ly Yong Phat to scam compounds. Known as the “king of Koh Kong,” Ly Yong Phat and his LYP Group conglomerate were sanctioned earlier this month by the U.S. Treasury Department for alleged abuses related to the treatment of trafficked workers in online scam centers.  “Arresting one of Cambodia’s bravest journalists will have a devastating effect on access to information for all Cambodians,” said Naly Pilorge, outreach co-director at Licadho. Dara sent a text message to Licadho informing them of his arrest, but as of 10:30pm they had not been able to determine where he was being held, said Pilorge.  RFA Khmer attempted to contact government officials but were unable to get any confirmation of the arrest. The Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association, or CamboJA, said it had confirmed the arrest with Eng Hy, a military police spokesman, who did not reveal the reason or where the journalist had been sent. Facebook photos of quarry While the reason for the arrest remains unknown, the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association said in a statement it came one day after Dara reportedly posted since-deleted photos to Facebook that appeared to show how a quarry operation had destroyed the concrete stairs leading to a pagoda in Prey Veng province called Ba Phnom, a local tourist destination.  The Prey Veng provincial administration on Monday released a statement condemning the post and accusing the journalist of causing “social disorder.” The same day, Fresh News, a government-friendly outlet, on Monday published an article labeling Dara’s post “fake news.”  Dara previously reported for The Cambodia Daily, which shut down in 2017 citing government pressure; The Phnom Penh Post, which was purchased by a government-friendly businessman in 2018; and Voice of Democracy, which had its license revoked by the Cambodian government in February 2023.  His arrest set off a flurry of concerned social media posts from local and international journalists and others, who highlighted his fearless reporting.  “There is NO SCENARIO in which this is not a politically motivated arrest,” J Daniel Sims, a visiting expert on transnational crime with the United States Institute of Peace, posted on X.  Mech Dara “has been a leading voice shedding light on state-affiliated criminal industries for years amidst mounting repression. Concerned govts must call on @Dr_Hunmanet_PM to release him immediately.” A State Department spokesperson told RFA they were aware of the reported arrest and were “following developments closely with great concern.” Additional reporting by Alex Willemyns. Edited by Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Myanmar guerrillas attack junta military headquarters in Mandalay

Pro-democracy insurgents battling Myanmar’s junta fired rockets at the military headquarters in the city of Mandalay, the group said on Monday, the latest in a series of strikes at the heart of the military’s command structure. There was no immediate confirmation from the junta of the attack on the Central Military Headquarters in Myanmar’s second-biggest city early on Sunday, which an activist group called Brave Warriors for Myanmar (BMW) said its members carried out with 107 mm rockets. “Two of the rockets hit a building where junta troops who are about to attack in northern Shan state are staying,” a member of the group who declined to be identified for safety reasons told Radio Free Asia. He said some troops were believed to have been wounded in the attack but the extent of casualties and damage were being investigated. Those who carried out the attack escaped, he said. RFA tried to contact the junta spokesman for Mandalay region, Thein Htay, by telephone to ask about the reported attack but he did not answer calls. The headquarters is in the heart of Mandalay, on the site of what used to be the walled palace of Myanmar’s kings who were deposed by British colonialists in the 19th century. The place was largely destroyed during World War II but the site is of symbolic importance for the nation. A resident of the area, which is known as Aungmyaethazan township, said he heard loud explosions early on Sunday. “I heard three or four blasts at around 2.28 a.m. on Sunday morning, they were quite loud, from a big weapon, I think,” the resident, who declined to be identified for safety reasons, told RFA. Myanmar’s military has been facing setbacks in fighting in several parts of the country over the past year, at the hands of its old ethnic minority insurgent enemies and new pro-democracy People’s Defense Forces, or PDFs, set up by activists largely from the majority Burman community, who took up arms after the generals overthrew an elected government in early 2021. Despite the setbacks, which have included the loss of a regional command headquarters in Shan state, northeast of Mandalay, and of a naval base in Rakhine state in the west, the military remains in control of major cities and can unleash devastating strikes with its air force. PDF fighters have launched several rocket attacks on military bases and junta leaders in the capital Naypyidaw as well as in the main city of Yangon. The junta has condemned what it calls “terrorist” attacks and arrested several groups of plotters. The BWM member said his group and an allied faction called the Shadow Mandalay Group had attacked the Mandalay base twice before, on Dec. 21, 2023, and on Sept. 3 this year. The BWM also helped plan a rocket attack on an air base in Naypyidaw in July, the group members said. PDF insurgents and their ethnic minority force allies have also captured a growing number of towns in the Mandalay region including Mogoke, Thabeikkyin, Singu and Tagaung. Anti-junta forces are also threatening Pyin Oo Lwin, a hill town 64 kilometers (40 miles) east of Mandalay that is home to the military’s Defense Services Academy. RELATED STORIES A new generation in Myanmar risks their lives for change No limits to lawlessness of Myanmar’s predatory regime Month of fighting leaves once-bustling Myanmar town eerily quiet  Edited by Mike Firn We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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A Myanmar revolutionary battles an old enemy with new allies

This story is the fourth in a five-part series exploring the war in Myanmar and what might come if the fighting stops. Read this story in Burmese. Tall, square-jawed and with a facial expression set to stern, Saw Kaw looks every bit the rebel commander that he is. But as he sits in a secret camp of Myawaddy township in Kayin (Karen) state, strumming his guitar and singing songs he learned in church, it’s easy to wonder what shape the 37-year-old’s life might have taken had circumstances allowed. As it was, Saw Kaw was born in a small village in eastern Myanmar and into one of the longest running insurgencies in the world. Almost ever since Burma gained independence from Great Britain in 1948, ethnic Karen forces from small villages in the mountainous areas near Thailand have battled successive military juntas for greater autonomy. Among them was Saw Kaw’s father, who was a member of the Karen National Union, or KNU. When Saw Kaw was seven, soldiers raided his village in search of his father, who wasn’t there at the time. Saw Kaw said they found and beat his uncles and an elderly grandfather instead, sending his mother, seven months pregnant at the time, fleeing into the surrounding jungle. An illustration shows seven-year-old Saw Kaw watching soldiers — who were looking for his father, a resistance fighter — torturing his relatives. (Rebel Pepper/RFA) For safety reasons, he said the family has remained fractured ever since, constantly on guard that the military or their supporters could use one to get to another. “Hello, Mom, how are you,” Saw Kaw sings, playing one of his favorite songs. “I miss you so much. Please pardon me as I cannot come back to you.” A long struggle The Karen are among the largest minority groups in Myanmar, which is thought to have more than 130 different ethnicities with various relationships with the Burman majority that has held the reins of power in the country. The complicated ethnic make-up is seen as a barrier to lasting peace. In-roads other armies have made against junta forces to the north and west don’t necessarily indicate the country can emerge from its complicated civil war whole. But the KNU has committed itself to the idea of a federation in which it and other groups have a high degree of authority over their own affairs but participate in a larger, national government. They are allied with the National Unity Government, a group of exiled former government officials helping to fund resistance movements and build a lasting peace should the military collapse. Cobra Column commander Saw Kaw stands on Asia Road, near the site of what was formerly the Myanmar junta’s Battalion 356, July 12, 2024. (Chan Aung/RFA) As a military commander, Saw Kaw doesn’t have time to weigh all the possible political dynamics. But the force he controls – Cobra Column – is an unusual joint effort of seasoned fighters from ethnic armies and young, largely Burman revolutionaries who no longer wish to be governed by the junta. It is an NUG force, not a KNU one. “I cannot precisely predict when this significant event will conclude, but I firmly believe that this war must come to an end,” he said. “It is not solely an arm revolution; the entire populace is involved.” In the shared tragedy, he hopes a lasting cohesion can be formed. READ MORE IN THIS SERIES A new generation in Myanmar risks their lives for change Love and struggle: A new generation in Myanmar’s civil war For Burmese journalist, an uneasy safety in Thailand A coup, then civil war Many of the Karen are Christian due to a history of missionaries operating in the area during colonial rule, and Saw Kaw learned to play the guitar in his church. Whatever early musical aptitude he demonstrated didn’t much matter. He always knew what his future held – fighting for his people. After attending college in Thailand he returned home to join the Karen National Liberation Army, or KNLA. His life has seen peace, however. In 2015, the KNU and the Myanmar military negotiated a ceasefire in the capital of Naypyidaw. Saw Kaw was part of the delegation. In this Sept. 9, 2015, photo, Myanmar President Thein Sein greets representatives of armed ethnic groups at the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) meeting in Naypyidaw. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP) By then, Myanmar’s military leaders began to open the country up to the world after decades of isolation. The agreement fell apart, though, in 2021 when Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing led a coup that pushed out the civilian government of the National League for Democracy, claiming election irregularities that it has yet to prove. Some of the NLD members fled to Lay Kay Kaw, a town established with the help of the Japanese as a refuge for Karen displaced in the region’s long-simmering conflict. The city, which was known as a “peace town” symbolizing the new detente between the military and rebel forces, became instead a locus where People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) sought training from people like Saw Kaw. “With deep sympathy, I don’t want anyone else to suffer as we have,” he said in an interview from his camp, not far from the front line where rebels are trying to hold off a large collection of government troops. “If people in other places experienced what’s happening in this country, they wouldn’t be able to endure it. It’s truly unbearable.” Cobra Column commander Saw Kaw near the front line in Myawaddy district, Karen state, May 8, 2023. (Courtesy of Saw Kaw) Hunting former NLD members, the military attacked Lay Kay Kaw in December 2021, triggering a return of hostilities with the KNU and its armed units. Fighting escalated throughout 2022 and 2023, spreading to towns and villages in the Myawaddy, Kawkareik and Kyainseikgyi districts. Initially, Saw Kaw said the fledgling PDF units tried to hold off the onslaught with old Tumi guns, flintlock rifles used against the British more than…

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Indian border fence cutting off crucial supply route to Myanmar’s Sagaing region

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese India is erecting a fence along its border with Myanmar, which residents of Myanmar’s Sagaing region say is cutting off trade routes and driving up the price of goods.  More than 1.6 million people have been displaced by conflict in Myanmar since February 2021, when the military seized power in a coup d’etat, according to the United Nations, with more than 50% of them – an estimated 821,000 people – from the Sagaing region. Many of the displaced there rely on cross-border trade from India for goods and medicine. Trade at the Tamu-Moreh border gate connecting India’s Manipur state to Sagaing was suspended in 2021 but area residents have continued to exchange goods through informal routes. India began construction of its border fence in Manipur state in June 2022 amid an influx of refugees from Myanmar, and Indian Union Government Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah said last week that around 30 km (20 miles) of the barrier have since been completed. Meanwhile, the junta has blocked roads leading to the checkpoint on the Myanmar side, and ethnic Chin commentator R. Lakher told RFA Burmese that India’s fence will make it difficult for residents in Sagaing to obtain goods and medicine from across the border. “The price of commodities has already significantly increased [because of the project],” he said. “This border area is relying on India for all its basic commodities and medical treatments. The local populace will surely suffer a lot of difficulties if the border fencing is completed.” A resident of Sagaing region who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, told RFA that those who need to cross the border are already being forced to do so at unfenced areas, where they must pay higher fees for transportation. “If the border fencing is completed … residents who have close relatives on both sides will face various difficulties,” he said. RELATED STORIES Closed borders with India cause food, fuel shortages in western Myanmar Food shortages reported in rebel-controlled areas of Myanmar’s Chin state Jailed Myanmar activists in India in danger of deportation: rights groups India shares a 1,643-km (1,020-mile) border with Myanmar, 398 km (250 miles) of which are located along Manipur state. The Indian government has earmarked US$3.7 billion to build the border fence, which will also cover 520 km (325 miles) in Arunachal Pradesh, 215 km (135 miles) in Nagaland and 510 km (320 miles) in Mizoram. Another resident of Sagaing told RFA that the border fence will impact people on both sides. “Not only the people of Myanmar, but also the people of India will suffer difficulties because people from both sides already have a long history of crossing the border,” he said. Rihkhawdar- Zokhawthar border gate bridge connecting Rihkhawdar town in Chin state and Mizoram state in India on February 10, 2024. (RFA) Salai Dokhar, the co-founder of aid agency India for Myanmar, said that the Manipur government is urgently erecting the fence because Myanmar’s anti-junta forces have gained control over its border areas. “As Myanmar rebel forces are in control of border areas close to India, the Indian government will have to deal with them, which I believe it does not want to do,” he said. Invitation to rebel forces While the Indian government conducts bilateral negotiations with Myanmar’s junta, it made overtures last week to the country’s rebel forces for the first time since the coup, according to a report by Reuters news agency. The report said that India extended invitations to Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, as well as to the China National Front, the Kachin Independence Army and the Arakan Army to attend a seminar by the government-funded Indian Council of World Affairs. A source with knowledge of the issue told RFA that Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar is leading the preparation for the event, the theme of which will be “Constitutionalism and Federalism.” The source said that only the Chin National Front had confirmed their registration to attend the seminar, while the other three groups have yet to respond. Observers welcomed the move, which they called “pragmatic,” given the junta’s weakening grip on power in Myanmar’s border regions. “All the Indian borders [with Myanmar] are close to areas under the control of these [anti-junta] forces, and this shows that India has adopted more pragmatic strategies suitable for the situation on the ground,” said an ethnic affairs analyst, who also declined to be named due to fear of reprisal. Attempts by RFA to reach the Indian Embassy in Yangon and the Myanmar Embassy in New Delhi about the border fence went unanswered Friday, as did attempts to contact junta spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun for comment on India’s invitation to anti-junta groups. Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told his junta counterpart Than Swe in New Delhi on July 26 that his government is open to engaging with all stakeholders in resolving Myanmar’s crisis. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Chinese nuclear submarine sank at dock: media

A Chinese nuclear submarine of the latest generation sank in late May or early June during construction at a shipyard in Wuhan province, U.S. media quoted defense officials as saying. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the suspected sinking of the sub at Wuchang shipyard, which had been believed only to build conventional diesel-powered submarines for the Chinese military. The newspaper said that the vessel that sank was the first of a new class of Chinese nuclear-powered submarines, called the Zhou class, which features a distinctive X-shaped stern. It was undergoing the final stage of construction when it sank.  The incident would indicate that the construction of nuclear submarines is moving to Wuchang from a previously known shipyard in Huludao, Liaoning province. Open source investigators reported unusual movements and activities at the shipyard on the Yangtze River in early June, when floating cranes were seen working to supposedly salvage the sub. Unidentified U.S. officials quoted by American media outlets said that China was trying to conceal the accident, which was a major setback for its submarine program.  ‘No information’ It is unclear whether the submarine had nuclear fuel on board when it sank and there are no indications of nuclear rescue efforts in the area in the following months. The Chinese embassy in Washington told news agencies that it “has no information to provide.” Taiwan, which closely monitors Chinese military activity, said it was aware of the reports. Defense Minister Wellington Koo said on Friday that authorities “have a grasp of the situation through multiple intelligence and surveillance methods,” the Reuters news agency reported, echoing words he used in June when Taiwanese media reported that a Chinese submarine had been spotted in the Taiwan Strait. RELATED STORIES Did the Chinese submarine accident happen? Singapore commissions 2 new submarines US denies coverup over sub collision in South China Sea China has the largest number of naval ships in the world – approximately 370 surface ships and submarines – according to the Pentagon’s 2023 China Military Power Report. Among them are six nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, six nuclear-powered attack submarines and 48 diesel-powered attack submarines.  China’s submarine force is expected to grow to 65 by 2025 and to 80 by 2035. Cadets demonstrate flag signals during a media tour to an open day at the People’s Liberation Army Naval Submarine Academy in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, April 21, 2024. (Reuters/Florence Lo) The suspected sinking of the Zhou-class submarine has provoked questions among Chinese military watchers. Some say that the waters of the Yangtze River around Wuhan are too shallow for new nuclear submarines.  “We must, of course, accommodate the possibility of a mistaken intel,” said Collin Koh, a regional military expert.  “It’s more likely this episode will end like the earlier news about a Chinese nuclear boat having met a mishap in the Yellow Sea or Bohai Gulf,” Koh said, referring to reports of an accident on a Chinese Shang-class nuclear submarine in August last year. British media at that time, citing leaked intelligence, said the Chinese attack submarine with hull number 417 was “caught in a trap intended to ensnare British sub-surface vessels in the Yellow Sea.” This resulted in systems failures that took six hours to repair and surface the vessel, resulting in the deaths of 55 sailors, the Daily Mail and the Times said. The Chinese military has never spoken about the incident and questions remain unanswered. Edited by Mike Firn. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Myanmar junta airstrike kills civilians sheltering in rebel territory

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. Myanmar junta jets bombed a shelter for displaced people in a rebel-held town in Rakhine state on Thursday killing 14 civilians and wounding 25, an insurgent force official told Radio Free Asia. The Arakan Army, or AA, has made significant gains in its battle for self-determination over the past year, capturing 10 of the 17 townships and major military bases in Myanmar’s westernmost state but the junta has been hitting back, in particular with its air power. Air force jets bombed the coastal town of Thandwe early on Thursday, hitting public administration offices where people displaced by the fighting have been staying, said the AA spokesperson. “Two jets came in and dropped two bombs each on the city hall and the environmental preservation office. More than 200 displaced people were sheltering in the office,” said the spokesperson, Khaing Thu Kha. “The injured were sent to hospital. Most were elderly people and children.” RFA tried to contact Rakhine state’s junta spokesperson Hla Thein for information on the airstrikes but he did not answer telephone calls. A Thandwe resident said he believed the jets had deliberately targeted civilians, though there was no particular evidence for that. “The people sheltering there are mainly from Thandwe township and Gyeik Taw village,” said the resident who declined to be identified for safety reasons. Residents and members of the AA say junta attacks in Rakhine state have increasingly targeted schools, monasteries, residential areas and government buildings that the AA has captured. The junta has denied targeting civilians though human rights investigators also say civilians in rebel-held areas are increasingly being killed in airstrikes. On Wednesday, junta attacks on nearby Myebon township’s Kan Htaunt Gyi village killed two women villagers and wounded seven people, residents said. The military has launched an offensive in Shan state, on northeastern Myanmar’s border with China, aiming to recapture lost territory there from two main insurgent forces allied with the AA. On Sept. 2, the junta designated all three members of the alliance “terrorist groups”. According to RFA data, junta airstrikes and heavy weapons attacks killed nearly 2,000 civilians and injured nearly 4,000 between the military’s February 2021 coup d’etat and May 2024. RELATED STORIES Myanmar junta arrests dozens for sending supplies to rebel zone A new generation in Myanmar risks their lives for change Myanmar junta airstrike kills dozens, including prisoners Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.  We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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