Category: ASEAN

Fighting between the Myanmar military and resistance groups in Sagaing region continued Monday after junta airstrikes over the previous three days killed  at least five civilians, one armed group told Radio Free Asia.  The battle began Friday, when three allied groups attacked a school campus and other buildings where junta troops were stationed.  The Arakan Army, Kachin Independence Army and People’s Defense Forces attacked the school before dawn. The group also targeted a police station and administration office in Sagaing region’s Kawlin township. The junta reacted by calling in airstrikes killing and injuring several civilians, said Kawlin city locals.  A junta jet attacked Hpa Le village in Kawlin township on Friday night, killing 34-year-old Naing Min Oo. The following day, the junta carried out more than 10 airstrikes, damaging buildings and killing two people, according to Kawlin-based defense groups.  And on Sunday morning, a fighter jet enroute from Mandalay region’s Tada-U township opened fire on Kawlin city.  Defense forces have reportedly rescued more than 10,000 residents trapped in the city since Friday. There were still more than 1,500 people trapped as of Sunday morning due to heavy airstrikes near the city’s high school, a local resident who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals told RFA. “The situation in the morning was that they were still fighting with the junta army. A jet came often and opened fire. A jet dropped bombs in the morning,” the local said. “People were trapped and some were injured due to the junta’s aerial bombardment. When civilians were trying to leave toward the eastern part of the city, junta soldiers arrived and the locals were trapped.” Residents who could not escape had to hide in houses during the fighting, he added. Aid workers are still trying to evacuate the people trapped in the city, said a rescue worker, who asked not to be named for security reasons. “People are being evacuated as much as possible. Some were evacuated on Sunday morning. All the phone lines were cut, some people were outside [the war zone], but they were still out of contact,” they said. “The junta troops are stationed around the city’s general administrative office now.” Residents from Kawlin’s surrounding villages also fled, bringing the total number of people forced to abandon their homes to nearly 100,000, according to the rescue worker.  Fighting has also prevented aid workers from collecting bodies in the area and they have not been able to accurately count the number of people who died since the initial blasts on Friday. “Junta troops are stationed in high-rise buildings. They shoot people if they come out on the street,” the rescue worker said. “There are people who have died due to the junta’s shooting. They use people as human shields.” The battle is taking longer than expected because of the combined junta ground and air attack, said a member of Kawlin township’s People’s Defense Force (PDF), who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons. “There is a hospital next to the general administration office, and the Number Two High School is next to the hospital. The defense forces took up positions for more than 200 meters and are fighting fiercely to capture the junta’s camp,” they said.  “The four sides of the General Administrative Office were surrounded by our PDF troops. But we still can not get close because junta troops have strong bunkers and weapons. A jet came to open fire every 30 minutes, and we had to retreat when the jet flew in.” The junta has not released any information about the attacks in Kawlin. RFA’s calls to Sagaing region’s junta spokesperson Sai Naing Naing Kyaw went unanswered on Sunday. At noon on Monday, some allied forces and locals claimed that resistance forces had finally taken control of Kawlin city, but RFA has not been able to independently confirm this.  Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

Four members of an unofficial church in southern Vietnam’s Dak Lak province who invited the country’s newly appointed president to attend their services remained in custody Thursday, in violation of a law that requires detainees be released within three days, said a religious watchdog group. Protestant Christians Y Phuc Nie, Y Nuer Buon Dap, Y Thinh Nie, and Y Cung Nie were arrested on Oct. 31 and are being held at the Cu Mgar District Police Headquarters, Y Quynh Buon Dap, a member of Thailand’s Montagnards For Justice group said. “Two of them were invited to a meeting on religious affairs [and detained], and the other two were taken from their homes to the Cu Mgar District Police,” Y Quynh Buon Dap told RFA Vietnamese. “Three days have already passed, but none have been allowed to return home.” In a letter dated Oct. 30, Cu Sue Commune People’s Committee Chairman Dang Van Hoan requested that Y Cung Nie come to his office the following day to discuss an invitation he sent to President Vo Van Thuong in May to attend his church’s services. On the same day, the chairman of the Ea Pok Town People’s Committee requested that Y Nuer Buon Dap meet with him on Oct. 31 to discuss “guidance on procedures to establish religious service locations.” However, police arrested the two Protestants upon their arrival for the meetings, their family members told RFA. “The police arrested him right after he arrived at the office of the Commune People’s Committee early on Oct. 31 and then escorted him to the Cu Mgar District Police headquarters,” said Y Cung Nie’s relative, who declined to be named for security reasons. “Since then, they have held him but haven’t said anything to our family.” Y Phuc Nie and Y Thinh Nie were both arrested at their homes. Y Cung Nie’s relative confirmed that “three other [Protestants] are also being held at Cu Mgar District Police headquarters.” When family members went there to ask for information about them, police did not respond. RFA contacted the Cu Mgar District Police on Thursday, but the person who answered the phone said that they could only provide information in person. A source with the Montagnards For Justice group told RFA on Thursday that the Cu Mgar District Police had released Y Phuc Nie, but arrested his wife, H Tuyen Eban instead. RFA was unable to independently verify the claim. Limits on detention According to Vietnamese law, a person accused of committing an administrative violation can only be held in custody for 12 hours – or 24 hours under extenuating circumstances. Those accused of a crime cannot be held for more than three days – a period that can be extended twice for three days each with special permission. All cases requiring temporary detention must be approved by the Procuracy at the same level as the investigating police department and the status of the case must be communicated to the family of the accused. Despite the requirements, the families of the four Protestants have yet to receive any notification on their situation from authorities. According to a document obtained by RFA from the Montagnards For Justice, the four Protestants sent an invitation in May to new Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong, who was appointed two months earlier, and representatives of the People’s Committees of all communes in Dak Lak to attend their church service in June. The purpose of the invitation, they said, was to prove to authorities that their unofficial church services do not include any anti-state ideology, and that they would not affect public order. It said that if local authorities attended the service, church members would document the event to post on social media and include in any reports to international organizations. Three-day propaganda lecture The unofficial Protestant church in Cu Mgar district claims to have 165 members, 150 of whom are from Cu Sue commune’s Sut M’dung village and 15 from Ea Tar commune’s Drai Si village. Montagnards For Justice’s Y Quynh Buon Dap told RFA that the church had sent invitations to attend services to local authorities four times since the beginning of the year, but has yet to receive a response. He said that in addition to detaining the four Protestants, authorities required members of the church to attend a three-day propaganda lecture, beginning Oct. 30. In two-three hour sessions, local authorities urged the community not to take part in the services of their church or any other unofficial church, including the Evangelical Church of Christ of the Central Highlands and Good News Mission Church. Those that do would be “dealt with according to the law,” they said. Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

A man from southwestern Myanmar died during a military interrogation between Oct. 19 and 20, revolution groups told Radio Free Asia on Monday. Military officials arrested 20-year-old Soe Paing Oo for allegedly communicating with a People’s Defense Force in the country’s northern region of Mandalay.  The Ayeyarwady region local, as well as three others, surrendered to the junta on Oct. 5 during a ceremony at Pathein’s Southwestern Regional Military Headquarters. Junta officials reported the four men defected from resistance groups and that they gave each one 300,000 kyats (US$143). Although locals disputed that the arrested men were resistance fighters, junta officials presented the men with certificates noting their surrender. In the following days, the military officers interrogated Soe Paing Oo, who is from Kan Thone Sint village in Kyonpyaw township, as well as another man from Ngathaingchaung township, the revolution group told RFA.  “They were welcomed with a ceremony at the Southwestern Regional Military Headquarters. [Previously], they were living under house arrest,” members of the revolution group said, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. “A man who surrendered to the junta from Kyonpyaw township was taken and interrogated by the Kyonpyaw army officers. I heard that he died during the interrogation and was cremated directly in the military headquarters.” Details about Soe Paing Oo’s death are still unknown, and it is likely he was not affiliated with any People’s Defence Force, they added.  In Ayeyarwady region, many civilians are currently seeking the protection of resistance groups. After protesting during the 2021 coup, they are sheltering with People’s Defence Forces to avoid arrest and will sometimes surrender to junta troops if the group is attacked.  Despite their alleged civilian status, locals told RFA that police were already investigating Soe Paing Oo and the three other men before they surrendered. RFA could not confirm the condition of the Ngathaingchaung man who was arrested with Soe Paing Oo.  Around 20 people in Ayeyarwady region surrendered to the military in the region’s capital of Pathein, according to junta officials. In October, junta troops were accused of forcing Ayeyarwady region locals to meet recruitment quotas for military training, including minors.  Calls by RFA to Ayeyarwady region’s junta spokesperson Maung Maung Than went unanswered. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Taejun Kang and Elaine Chan