New year, new horror for civilians
The junta found a new way to terrorize civilians this week, as its conscription squads began abducting people from their homes, workplaces and off the street.
Locals reported that draft-age people were being snatched by regime personnel in Magwe, Bago, Yangon and Ayeyarwady regions. The abductees were reportedly whisked away for medical checks before being transported to camps for military training.
The conscription snatch squads are reportedly operating in both rural and urban areas, using household registration documents to identify targets.
The junta enforced the conscription law on Feb. 10 after suffering major troop losses in a string of battlefield defeats to resistance forces. The declaration of mandatory two-year military service for men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 sparked widespread fear and plans to flee, highlighted when two women were killed in a stampede at the Mandalay passport office on Feb. 20.
That panic is likely to grow now that a junta desperately short of troops has resorted to abducting civilians off the street to plug gaps on multiple front lines across the country. Read more
Stakes high in battle for Myawaddy
The military said on Tuesday it had regained a foothold in Myawaddy on the Thai border. Junta troops have been fighting to retake Myanmar’s biggest border-trade hub since being ousted by Karen National Union (KNU) and allied resistance fighters on April 10.
Threatened with the loss of annual border trade through Myawaddy worth US$ 1 billion, the regime retaliated with airstrikes and a ground counteroffensive through the Dawna mountains to the west. The KNU and allies have reported inflicting heavy casualties on junta troops as they travel across the mountains to Myawaddy.
The military said some of its troops have arrived at the previously vacated Battalion 275 military command in the town. Read more
Regime No. 2 still conspicuously missing
The failure of deputy junta leader Soe Win to attend a cabinet meeting in Naypyitaw on April 22 is intensifying debate about his fate: was he wounded by a drone or is he being purged? Read more
Seeking Russian comfort amid military calamities
Myanmar’s military regime continues to deepen cooperation with Russia as its humiliating string of defeats in the country’s ethnic areas lengthens. Read more
China comes calling for border crackdown
Beijing is looking to intensify its joint crackdown on crime syndicates, its public security minister told junta Home Affairs Minister Yar Pyae. Read more
