January 2025 - Myanmar Special Weapons News

Myanmar/Burma: statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the Fourth Anniversary of the Coup EC/CEU 31 Jan 2025 -- On the fourth anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar, the European Union (EU) reiterates its strongest condemnation of the actions taken by the Myanmar military since 1 February 2021 and calls for the end of all forms of violence and the release of all prisoners arbitrarily detained including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar: Four years on, coup leaders ramp up violations to unprecedented levels, UN finds OHCHR 31 Jan 2025 -- Myanmar's military ramped up violence against civilians last year to unprecedented levels, inflicting the heaviest civilian death toll since they launched their coup four years ago, the UN Human Rights Office reported on Friday.
Myanmar junta blocks military-aged men from work abroad Radio Free Asia 31 Jan 2025 -- Myanmar's junta has banned employment agencies from sending military aged men abroad as it struggles with a growing civil war while promising to extend peace and stability for an election that it hopes will bolster its legitimacy.
Myanmar extends state of emergency for another 6 months Radio Free Asia 31 Jan 2025 -- Myanmar's ruling military extended a state of emergency for another six months on Friday four years after it ousted an elected government in a coup, plunging the country into war.
Over 1,000 civilians flee Sittwe amid tension between Myanmar junta and ethnic army Radio Free Asia 31 Jan 2025 -- More than 1,000 civilians have fled Rakhine state's capital Sittwe and nearby areas in western Myanmar, fearing heavy artillery attacks as tensions rise between junta forces and the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group that has advanced on junta positions, residents said Friday.
Myanmar's rebels closing in around junta into fifth year of civil war VOA 31 Jan 2025 -- Myanmar's rebel groups made historic gains last year, the fourth of a civil war set off by a military coup in February 2021, seizing wide swathes of the country's west and northeast and overrunning two of the regime's regional command bases for the first time.
Joint Statement on Myanmar Australia DFAT 01 Feb 2025 -- Four years on from the military coup in Myanmar: joint statement by Australia, Canada, the European Union, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
UK announces additional humanitarian funding for Myanmar UK FCDO 01 Feb 2025 -- Four years on from military coup, additional UK humanitarian funding delivers healthcare to one million people in Myanmar
Myanmar's forced conscription: How the junta targets young men for military service Radio Free Asia 30 Jan 2025 -- Part of a three-story series to mark the fourth anniversary of Myanmar's 2021 coup, looking at how the military treats its own soldiers.
Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General - on Myanmar UN Secretary-General 30 Jan 2025
Myanmar: UN chief urges return to civilian rule as crisis worsens UN News 30 Jan 2025 -- The UN Secretary-General on Thursday said Myanmar's military must relinquish power to allow a return to civilian rule through an inclusive democratic transition, as the country marks four years since the junta seized power.
UN expert urges support for people of Myanmar as they heroically oppose military oppression OHCHR 30 Jan 2025 -- The fourth anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar is a time to mourn the loss of thousands of innocent lives at the hands of a brutal military regime while celebrating the heroism of those who continue to stand up for human rights in a country under siege, a UN expert said today.
Myanmar aid groups struggle with freeze as UN warns of 'staggering' hunger Radio Free Asia 30 Jan 2025 -- Groups helping victims of Myanmar's turmoil are struggling to provide assistance after the U.S. put a 90-day freeze on nearly all foreign aid, one organization said on Thursday, as the U.N. warned of looming hunger five years after the military ousted an elected government.
Fighting in Myanmar's Sagaing region prompts thousands to flee to India border Radio Free Asia 30 Jan 2025 -- Intense fighting between Myanmar's military and rebel forces in Sagaing region near the country's border with India has forced more than 3,000 civilians to flee their homes and led to heavy casualties on both sides, according to sources.
Myanmar militia 'ready to return' more than 60 trafficked foreigners to Thailand Radio Free Asia 30 Jan 2025 -- A pro-junta Myanmar militia that oversees online scam operations has said it will release more than 60 foreigners who were trafficked into working in its eastern border enclave.
Freeze to US aid hits Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar hard Radio Free Asia 29 Jan 2025 -- On the Thai-Myanmar border, sick patients are being sent home from hospital. In Laos, school meals have been interrupted. And in Cambodia, hundreds of staff at the agency responsible for clearing land mines have been furloughed.
About 5,000 people displaced by war return to Myanmar border town Radio Free Asia 29 Jan 2025 -- About 5,000 internally displaced people have returned to the western Myanmar border town of Maungdaw after the insurgent group that captured it from the military finished securing the town, some of those going back told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday.
Four years after the coup, Myanmar remains on the brink UN News 29 Jan 2025 -- Four years after the military coup which plunged Myanmar into turmoil, the country is facing an unprecedented "polycrisis," marked by economic collapse, intensifying conflict, complex climate hazards and deepening poverty, according to a new report by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Myanmar on the brink as conflict fuels hunger WFP 29 Jan 2025 -- Hunger has reached alarming levels in Myanmar with the situation set to worsen in 2025, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today. A staggering 15 million people are expected to face hunger in 2025, up from 13.3 million last year.
Crime increases in Myanmar cities due to lack of law enforcement, residents say Radio Free Asia 29 Jan 2025 -- Instances of kidnapping, robbery and murder have grown significantly in cities controlled by Myanmar's ruling junta, residents said Wednesday, due to what they claim is lax enforcement by police.
Singapore oil firm urged to quit war-torn Myanmar VOA 29 Jan 2025 -- Singapore-based petroleum company Interra Resources is being accused by an activist group in Myanmar of complicity in alleged war crimes committed by Myanmar's military government.
Myanmar junta begins recruiting women for active military service Radio Free Asia 28 Jan 2025 -- Myanmar's ruling military junta has begun initial steps to draft women for active military service, residents said, showing the military's desperation to replenish its ranks amid a series of battlefield defeats and desertions in the country's four-year civil war.
Arakan Army captures junta camp on road to central Myanmar Radio Free Asia 28 Jan 2025 -- An ethnic minority insurgent force that has captured most of western Myanmar's Rakhine state has seized a military base on a main road into central heartland areas, the group said, raising the prospect of a rebel push into the Irrawaddy River valley.
Ethnic rebels seize key airport in northern Myanmar Radio Free Asia 27 Jan 2025 -- Ethnic rebels on Monday seized an airport in northern Myanmar near the Chinese border, cutting off a supply channel for a key military base in the region, according to residents and rebel sources.
Myanmar military kills 19 in air attack on militia office Radio Free Asia 27 Jan 2025 -- The Myanmar military killed 19 people including 14 members of an insurgent militia in an air attack on a rebel position, the militia said, as the junta presses on with operations aimed at recovering territory it lost last year.
Tide of Myanmar war refugees tests Thailand's welcome mat for migrants Radio Free Asia 25 Jan 2025 -- The threatened deportations from Thailand of a Vietnamese ethnic minority activist and 48 Uyghurs detained after trying to flee China have cast a harsh spotlight on Bangkok.
China's support for Myanmar regime backfires; scam syndicates thrive VOA 25 Jan 2025 -- Reports of Chinese citizens trafficked into scam centers along the Thai-Myanmar border are prompting renewed questions about Beijing's reliance on Myanmar's military regime to tackle transnational crime.
Myanmar's Arakan Army confirms torture, execution of POWs in leaked viral video Radio Free Asia 24 Jan 2025 -- Ethnic Rakhine rebels on Friday confirmed the torture and execution of two prisoners of war from Myanmar's military after video clips of the killings went viral online.
Myanmar's junta launches offensives on rebel strongholds in Mandalay region Radio Free Asia 24 Jan 2025 -- Fighting is raging in central Myanmar's Mandalay region as the military launches offensives against areas controlled by anti-regime forces, and tens of thousands of civilians have fled from their homes, according to rebels and residents.
Myanmar junta bombs rebel-held town in Shan state killing 8 Radio Free Asia 23 Jan 2025 -- Myanmar's military bombed a town in Shan state under rebel control killing eight people days after striking a ceasefire with an allied group that also operates in the northeastern state, the group in control of the bombed town said.
Dozens of Myanmar junta soldiers defect to Karen rebel army Radio Free Asia 22 Jan 2025 -- More than 40 soldiers fighting for Myanmar's junta have defected to ethnic Karen insurgents since August, rebels said Wednesday, most of whom were forcibly recruited as part of the military regime's conscription program.
Two-thirds of residents flee Myanmar beach town as rebels battle junta troops Radio Free Asia 22 Jan 2025 -- Some two-thirds of residents of a beach resort town in Myanmar's heartland have fled their homes amid fighting between junta troops and ethnic Rakhine rebels, sources in the region told RFA Burmese on Wednesday.
Myanmar crisis: Civilians killed in airstrikes as Rohingya risk dangerous journeys UN News 22 Jan 2025 -- The security situation in Myanmar continues to remain highly volatile, with intensified airstrikes across multiple regions leading to dozens of civilian casualties, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Wednesday.
Myanmar junta and insurgents sign ceasefire brokered by China Radio Free Asia 21 Jan 2025 -- A rebel army in northeastern Myanmar has agreed to a ceasefire with the junta after talks mediated by neighboring China, which is keen to see an end to Myanmar's turbulence, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Myanmar govt and MNDAA sign ceasefire agreement with China's mediation: Chinese FM Global Times 20 Jan 2025 -- When asked for details that Myanmar's Tatmadaw and ethnic armed organization Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) held peace talks and signed a ceasefire agreement in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that in mid-January, with China's mediation and effort to drive progress, the Myanmar government and MNDAA held the seventh round of peace talks.
Myanmar junta kills 28, including its own soldiers, in prison attack Radio Free Asia 20 Jan 2025 -- The Myanmar military killed 28 of its own soldiers and their detained relatives in an airstrike on insurgent positions near an ancient capital in Rakhine state, according to the rebels and a human rights group.
Myanmar military regime enters year 5 in terminal decline Radio Free Asia 18 Jan 2025 -- Myanmar's military approaches the fourth anniversary of the coup d'etat that put them in power in terminal decline.
Junta blockades keep Myanmar children malnourished and without vaccines Radio Free Asia 16 Jan 2025 -- Myanmar children nationwide are facing extreme shortages of food and medicine in areas under rebel control, leading to malnutrition and illness, aid workers and residents told Radio Free Asia.
Myanmar insurgents say they launched rocket attack on junta deputy Radio Free Asia 15 Jan 2025 -- Pro-democracy fighters in Myanmar launched a barrage of rockets at junta facilities in the eastern town of Loikaw as the deputy of the ruling military council was visiting, a rebel group said on Wednesday.
Ta'ang rebels renew vow to crush Myanmar's junta despite earlier ceasefire offer Radio Free Asia 13 Jan 2025 -- Ethnic Ta'ang rebels have renewed their vow to crush Myanmar's ruling junta, but said that a ceasefire offer made in November following pressure from neighboring China remains on the table.
Rakhine rebels seize first police station in Myanmar's heartland Radio Free Asia 10 Jan 2025 -- The Arakan Army has seized a police station in the Ayeyarwaddy region, the first in Myanmar's heartland to fall to the ethnic Rakhine rebels since the 2021 military coup.
Myanmar anti-military factions need to be strategic with China, experts say VOA 10 Jan 2025 -- Analysts say that rising anti-China sentiment in Myanmar reflects widespread frustration with Beijing's perceived support for the country's military junta in the conflict-torn Southeast Asian nation.
As Arakan Army gains ground in Myanmar, peace remains elusive VOA 10 Jan 2025 -- In Myanmar, a relatively new ethnic armed group known as the Arakan Army has recently taken control of 15 out of 17 townships in the war-torn country's western Rakhine state. This includes the Myanmar military's western regional command headquarters located in Ann Township, in central Rakhine state. This marks the second major regional command center to fall since the beginning of a surge in resistance victories by allied ethnic armed groups - the "Three Brotherhood Alliance" - known as Operation 1027 in late 2023.
Internet freedom has plummeted under Myanmar's junta: report Radio Free Asia 10 Jan 2025 -- Suppression of internet freedom and security in Myanmar is significantly worse today than it was four years ago, when the junta seized power in a coup d'etat, according to a group monitoring digital access in the country.
Myanmar junta bombs Rohingya Muslim village killing 41, rescuers say Radio Free Asia 09 Jan 2025 -- The Myanmar air force has bombed a fishing village in Rakhine state killing 41 civilians and wounding 52, most of them Rohingya Muslims, residents involved in rescue work said on Thursday, in an attack insurgents condemned as a war crime.
Japanese Yakuza Leader Pleads Guilty to Nuclear Materials Trafficking, Narcotics, and Weapons Charges US Dept. of Justice 08 Jan 2025 -- Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, of Japan, pleaded guilty in Manhattan, New York, today to conspiring with a network of associates to traffic nuclear materials, including uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, from Burma to other countries, as well as to international narcotics trafficking and weapons charges.
Myanmar's Kachin rebels take key town on approach to Bhamo Radio Free Asia 08 Jan 2025 -- Ethnic minority Kachin fighters in northern Myanmar captured military camps on the approaches to the major town of Bhamo on Wednesday, another setback for the junta that have been struggling for much of the past year to hold territory in the face of concerted attacks.
Myanmar's junta answers rebel proposal for talks with week of deadly airstrikes Radio Free Asia 07 Jan 2025 -- Myanmar's junta has rebuffed a New Year's proposal for political dialogue by rebels in Rakhine state with a week of deadly airstrikes, residents say.
Junta slashes power in 2 major Myanmar cities Radio Free Asia 06 Jan 2025 -- Military rulers have ordered rolling blackouts in Myanmar's two major cities — Yangon and Naypyidaw — cycling off power in different areas for longer periods to manage electricity demand and prevent a total grid collapse, electricity officials said.
Joint Press Statement on the Human Rights and Humanitarian Situation in Myanmar US Dept. of State 06 Jan 2025 -- The text of the following joint statement was released by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union and the Governments of the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, and the United Kingdom to address the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.
Myanmar junta says it releases 600 political prisoners in mass amnesty Radio Free Asia 06 Jan 2025 -- Myanmar's junta has released 5,864 prisoners, including about 600 political prisoners, to mark Independence Day, a spokesman for the military said, but there was no sign that one of the world's most famous political prisoners, Aung San Suu Kyi, would be set free.
Rohingyas' return to Myanmar uncertain, despite rebel control of Bangladesh border Radio Free Asia 03 Jan 2025 -- The dream of returning home to Myanmar remains uncertain for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh despite rebel control of the border, members of the ethnic group said Friday.
Myanmar's new cybercrime law will suppress information, say analysts VOA 03 Jan 2025 -- Myanmar's military leaders have enacted a new cybersecurity law that analysts say will provide the junta with extensive control over access to information.
'Snatch and recruit' arrests in Myanmar target youth for military service Radio Free Asia 02 Jan 2025 -- Authorities loyal to Myanmar's junta arrested around 250 youths in four major cities in December, RFA Burmese has learned, and residents say they are deliberately targeting young people to force them to join the military.
31 political prisoners died in prisons across Myanmar in 2024 Radio Free Asia 02 Jan 2025 -- The death toll of political prisoners in the military junta's prisons across Myanmar hit 31 in 2024 due to poor healthcare and inhumane treatment — nearly double the number of those who died for the same reasons in 2023, a year-end report by a political prisoners' rights group says.
Myanmar enacts cybersecurity law that aims to restrict use of VPNs Radio Free Asia 02 Jan 2025 -- Myanmar's junta has enacted a cybersecurity law that will penalize unauthorized provision of virtual private networks, or VPNs, which many people use to circumvent internet restrictions to get access to news and information and to report on what is going on in their country.
China-backed election raises fears of 'negative peace' in Myanmar VOA 01 Jan 2025 -- As Myanmar's military government prepares for elections in 2025, attention turns to neighboring China, which, critics say, is pressuring Southeast Asian nations to treat the vote as a solution to Myanmar's ongoing political crisis.

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January 2025 - Myanmar Special Weapons News