Rebel forces in central Myanmar captured nine junta army posts and opened a new offensive in three townships under junta control, they announced on Monday, in the latest setback for the ruling military after a string of battlefield losses since late last year.
Myanmar authorities under the ruling junta are now preventing young adults who want to get jobs abroad from leaving the country via Yangon’s international airport, people with knowledge of the situation said.
Approximately 5,000 minority Rohingya Muslims attempting to flee from this week’s fighting in western Myanmar have been waiting for several days near the Naf River for an opportunity to cross into Bangladesh, residents said.
Landmines and unexploded ordnance are posing a greater threat to residents of western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where intense fighting has caused junta troops to lay more landmines near their outposts.
Flooding triggered by torrential downpours has forced about 20,000 people from their homes in the Myanmar city of Bago and they now face a dire shortage of water and food with more rain expected, aid workers and residents said on Monday.
Heavy rain at the height of the monsoon is flooding large parts of northern Myanmar, destroying hundreds of homes and displacing tens of thousands of people, relief workers told Radio Free Asia on Thursday.
Rohingya are being brought into southeastern Bangladesh by smugglers as fighting between ethnic rebel groups and junta-aligned forces worsens next-door in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, said officials and border crossers interviewed by BenarNews.
India must not force about 200 jailed Myanmar refugees to return home, an advocacy group told Radio Free Asia on Thursday, citing dangers that they would face if pushed back into the jurisdiction of the Myanmar military.
Myanmar prison authorities beat about 80 female political prisoners, critically injuring five of them, after prison authorities sparked a protest when they confiscated the women’s belongings, a human rights group told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.
Junta forces arrested 13 members of an urban guerrilla group on suspicion of planning an attack on the leader of Myanmar’s military regime, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, state-run media reported.