Aung San Suu Kyi moved to house arrest following sentence reduction in Myanmar amnesty, regime reports

Regime regains more territory lost to resistance since 2021

A little more than a year ago, the military was on the back foot in the civil war, pushed out of great swaths of the country’s north in Shan and Kachin states by an alliance of ethnic armed groups, and forced into defensive action around the rest of the country by other armed groups and resistance forces. Today the picture has changed.

With its ranks swollen by an estimated 110,000 new military conscripts since the regime enforced the conscription law on Feb. 10, 2024, the military has reversed some of its losses and appears poised to continue with its counteroffensive, while some resistance groups have left the fight and infighting and supply issues have weakened others.

“I think we’re nearing a crescendo here where the [military] is going to reassert itself and the resistance movement is going to peter out,” said Morgan Michaels, a Singapore-based analyst with the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) Myanmar Conflict Map project, adding that if the resistance to the 2021 coup stumbles, the conflict is not close to being over. Read more

News by Region

CHIN—Residents of Kanpelet Township told DVB that nine civilians were killed by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force near Monechaung bridge in Kyindwe town on Wednesday. Kanpelet, located 160 miles (257 km) south of the state capital Hakha, was seized by the Chin Brotherhood on Dec. 22.

An unknown number of civilians were injured during the airstrikes, residents told DVB. Regime forces launched a counteroffensive in Kyindwe following the recapture of Falam Township on April 25. Falam is located 233 miles (375 km) south of Kanpelet and 41 miles (66 km) north of the state capital Hakha.

KAREN—Residents of Myawaddy Township told DVB that the regime warned that its Infantry Battalion 275 will disarm and prosecute anyone under the Weapons Law, which was enacted in 2023, and carries a 5-10 year sentence. Myawaddy is located 81 miles (130 km) east of the state capital Hpa-An.

Residents told DVB that the pro-regime Border Guard Force (BGF) and Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) have not been seen carrying firearms in public since the warning was issued on April 23. The KNU/KNLA PC told DVB that the warning was issued for security reasons.

SAGAING—Residents of Pale, Yinmabin, Salingyi, and Kani townships told DVB that thousands fled their homes in anticipation of a regime counteroffensive which arrived in Kani on Tuesday. The four towns are located 27-39 (43-62 km) southwest, west and north of the region’s capital Monywa.

A Kani resident told DVB that she had to cross the Chindwin River to escape attacks by four regime columns arriving from the Northwestern RMC headquarters in Monywa. Residents of Yinmabin told DVB that regime forces have detained six civilians for unknown reasons this month.