Pro-regime forces recapture Sagaing Region’s Banmauk; Military appoints remaining 56 soldiers to legislature

Pro-regime forces recapture Sagaing Region’s Banmauk

Sources close to the People’s Defence Force (PDF) told DVB that resistance forces, including the the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), lost control of Banmauk town in Sagaing Region to pro-regime forces, which includes the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA), on Sunday. Banmauk is located 235 miles (378 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa.

A PDF source told DVB that the regime counteroffensive against resistance forces was assisted by artillery fire from the Burma Army and air support from the Burma Air Force, which “overwhelmed” resistance forces with airstrikes in Banmauk. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or drone strikes, were also carried out by regime forces. The PDF, the KIA, and the ABSDF seized Banmauk on Sept. 20.

The pro-regime counteroffensive, including the SNA, was launched in response last September. A Banmauk resident told DVB that an unknown number of civilians were displaced from their homes five months ago and still cannot return home. Banmauk is located 50 miles (80 km) west of Sagaing’s Mawlu town and 125 miles (201 km) east of Pinlebu town, which were seized by the PDF in 2023-24.

APHR welcomes Timor-Leste universal jurisdiction case

ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) on Friday welcomed Timor-Leste’s decision to initiate legal proceedings under the principle of universal jurisdiction against Burma’s military over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Its Feb. 6 statement claimed that the move sends a “powerful message” to the regime in Naypyidaw and the international community.

The Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP) and the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) announced on Feb. 2 that Timor-Leste’s judiciary opened legal proceedings against the military, including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. This is the first time a member of the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN), has initiated such action against a fellow member state.

The APHR statement added that the Burmese people’s historic struggle for democracy “isn’t very far” from the Timorese fight for independence from Indonesia’s “violent” 24-year occupation that ended in 2002. It called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to hold the regime in Naypyidaw accountable and support the people of Burma in their fight against a return to military rule.