Category: South Asia

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. Myanmar’s junta appointed a new minister of defense, state-controlled media reported, in the wake of significant insurgent advances across the county that have put the military under unprecedented pressure. Gen. Maung Maung Aye, who has been chief of general staff, was appointed minister in place of Gen. Tin Aung San, who retained his position as deputy prime minister, media reported. State media did not give a reason for the change in its reports on Wednesday but the military has suffered major setbacks at the hands of insurgent forces over the past year. RFA called junta spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment, but he did not respond by time of publication. A defense official in a parallel government in exile, the National Unity Government, or NUG, said the junta would be determined to change the trajectory of the war. “Across the whole country, the army is obviously losing very badly, so this could be to redeem themselves or change that,” said NUG defense official Aung San Sha. The new defense minister will have to deal immediately with a crisis in Rakhine state in the west, where ethnic minority Arakan Army insurgents are closing in on the military’s Western Command headquarters in the town of Ann. The loss of the base will be a major setback for the army against one of Myanmar’s most powerful guerrilla forces. Ethnic Kachin insurgents are battling to capture the northern town of Bhamo, while fighters in the northwest, central areas and the east have also made advances. RELATED STORIES Junta chief vows to complete Myanmar census by year-end — then hold elections Myanmar rebels capture last military post on Bangladesh border Myanmar military presses offensive after two groups agree to talk In Shan state in the northeast, insurgents captured the town of Lashio, on an important trade route to the nearby border with China, in August and have held on to it despite a relentless campaign of airstrikes by the military. China has pressed two insurgent armies in Shan state to talk peace with the junta but it is not clear if the rebels will withdraw from the places they have captured, including Lashio. The new minister will be responsible for providing security for an election expected next year, which the junta hopes will boost its legitimacy, both at home and abroad, even though the opposition has rejected the vote as meaningless when their leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, are in prison. A former soldier who defected to the ranks of the junta’s opponents said the outgoing minister was also paying the price for implementing a deeply unpopular campaign of conscripting young people, with nothing to show for it. “All over the country the military is suffering – they’re recruiting and aren’t succeeding,” said the defector, Naung Ro. “It’s also because of this that Tin Aung San has been replaced,” Maung Maung Aye will be the third defense minister appointed by the junta that seized power with the ouster of an elected government in February 2021. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. Myanmar’s ruling military battled to defend a major northern town on Wednesday as its forces also came under pressure in the west and the east and its most important ally China worked to stop the onslaught by insurgents determined to end the generals’ rule. Forces of the junta that seized power in a February 2021 coup have been pushed back in different places across the country by ethnic minority insurgents and allied pro-democracy militias over the past year. Ethnic Kachin insurgents have been attacking the northern city of Bhamo on the Irrawaddy River for two weeks and have advanced towards the military’s headquarters there. Junta forces have responded with heavy airstrikes, residents said. “Last night at around 8 p.m., the planes were dropping bombs. There must have been about 100 strikes,” said one Bhamo resident, who declined to be identified in fear of reprisals. “On the side of the headquarters, fighting is continuing and we hear gunfire. We can also see houses near there burning.” An aid organization in the area said 30 civilians had been killed and nearly 150 wounded in Bhamo since Dec. 4. Among the dead were 10 children and five nuns, said a spokesperson from the group who declined to be identified. “It’s an approximation from people on the ground and those who fled,” said the spokesperson. “The dead were killed by airstrikes and heavy weapons, and some by shooting when they fled.” RFA tried to telephone Kachin state’s junta spokesperson, Moe Min Thein, to ask about the situation in Bhamo but he did not answer. China, the junta’s main foreign ally, has been trying to end the violence in its neighbour, where it has extensive economic interests including rare earth mines in Kachin state energy pipelines from the Indian Ocean, and has been pressing insurgents to strike ceasefires with the junta. The chairman of the Kachin Independence Organization, or KIO, General N’Ban La, met senior Chinese official Wu Ken in the Chinese city of Kunming on Dec. 12 for talks on a truce with the Myanmar military and trade along Kachin state’s border with China, said Kachin military information officer Naw Bu. “They discussed a ceasefire and opening gates along the border, then after fighting stops, they talked about having peace talks with the junta,” he said. “Neither side has made any formal decision or agreement.” He declined to say if China was putting pressure on the KIA but China has in recent days pressed two insurgent groups in Shan state, to the southeast of Kachin state, to agree to ceasefires after cutting off border trade. RELATED STORIES Chinese aid cannot overcome Myanmar junta’s declining finances and morale China undermines its interests by boosting support for Myanmar’s faltering junta Sources: Junta representatives, leaders of rebel group in talks in China Manerplaw re-captured In Myanmar’s western-most Rakhine state, ethnic minority Arakan Army, or AA, insurgents have surrounded the army Western Command base in the town of Ann, one of the military’s last major headquarters in the state. The AA released drone video footage of the base on Wednesday, showing burning buildings in ruins, with smoke rising. Radio Free Asia could not verify the date the video was taken but it was clearly of the Western Command headquarters. The AA also released video of scores of captured men, hands tied, marching in a line with white flags of surrender. In the east, Myanmar’s oldest insurgent group, the Karen National Union, or KNU, re-captured their headquarters at Manerplaw, which they lost in 1995 to the army following a split in their ranks. “We are taking back the headquarters that we lost for 30 years,” said the group’s spokesman, Saw Taw Nee. Manerplaw, on a river along the border with Thailand, is of great symbolic importance. The Karen headquarters was the hub of opposition efforts by an alliance of ethnic minority groups and student fighters from the majority Burman community after the military crushed a pro-democracy uprising in 1988. Those same groups are again striving for unity as they seek to end military rule and usher in what they say will be a democratic, federal Myanmar. Translated by Kiana Dunan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Read RFA coverage of these topics in Burmese. Ethnic minority guerrillas in Myanmar’s Rakhine state have seized a major stronghold from the military, a spokesperson for the group said on Monday, another step towards their goal of controlling the entire state, while rejecting a junta call for talks. The Arakan Army, or AA, which is fighting for self-determination in Myanmar’s western-most state, is one of the country’s most powerful forces battling the junta that seized power in 2021. The insurgent force controls about 80% of the state, where China has extensive energy interests, and it fully captured the 12th of the state’s 17 townships before dawn on Saturday. “We managed to seize control of Operational Command Center No. 5 in Toungup township,” said AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha. “That means the Arakan Army has been able to completely seize the township.” RFA attempted to contact military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment but he did not respond by the time of publication. Hours after the insurgents captured the base, the junta chief, Senior General Ming Aung Hlaing, called on the AA and two of its allies to agree to ceasefires and talks to end the war. “You can’t achieve your aims by demanding them through armed conflict, you must come to the political table,” Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech on the 50th anniversary of Rakhine State Day. “I urge you to give up the way of conflict so that we can peacefully solve our problems and arrive at a good path,” he said. RELATED STORIES In viral video, besieged Myanmar troops bemoan lack of support from junta chief EXPLAINED: What is Myanmar’s Arakan Army? Chinese aid cannot overcome Myanmar junta’s declining finances and morale The AA and the two allied groups, both based in Shan state on northwestern Myanmar’s border with China, launched a stunning offensive late last year, seizing large areas from junta troops including major towns and bases. Under pressure from China the two Shan state groups – the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, and Ta’ang National Liberation Army – have recently declared ceasefires and agreed to talks. A delegation from the MNDAA met representatives of the Myanmar military in the Chinese city of Kunming on Sunday, a source close to the military told Radio Free Asia, adding that Chinese officials also attended. But the AA rejected the junta’s call for a ceasefire, Khaing thu Kha said. “I consider it a dishonorable and brazen thing to say because in Myanmar, the military are the real violent ones,” he said. “Nobody in Myanmar supports them … they can not represent Myanmar anymore. The terrorist military should apologize to the public and surrender their weapons as quickly as possible,” Khaing Thu Kha said. The AA spokesman said his forces were closing in on another major military base in Rakhine state, its Western Command near Ann town, while junta forces were defending Gwa, in the far south of the state, with air power and fire from navy vessels, he said. “The situation is good, we can say that we’ll capture it soon,” the AA spokesperson said of the Ann base. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika