Public transportation costs along the vital highway connecting Sagaing Region’s Kale with northern Chin State’s Tedim and Falam have surged dramatically, driven by exorbitant toll collections at military junta checkpoints. Following extensive ground offensives and heavy airstrikes, the regime regained full control of Falam on April 25—nearly a year after the Chin Brotherhood (CB) Alliance captured the town in April 2025. With the highway officially reopened to civilian traffic, the junta has established a dense network of security checkpoints, where soldiers extract heavy cash tolls from passing vehicles. “Cars are now running normally again between Kale and Tedim, but bus…
Author: Editor
Myanmar military forces and immigration officials are conducting door-to-door sweeps in Kale Town, Sagaing Region, issuing conscription notices and forcing even underage students to sign pledges to enlist upon reaching legal age, according to residents. Authorities are utilizing official household registration checks as a pretext to identify and target men aged 18 to 35 across nearly all downtown wards in Kale. Residents report that the regime’s bureaucracy has produced severe oversights and coercive demands. In one instance, authorities delivered a conscription notice to the family of a young political prisoner serving a lengthy sentence. Officials refused to accept the family’s…
Malaysia has ordered an immediate suspension of all new refugee registrations by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The move comes as part of a broader government strategy to overhaul its refugee management system, which oversees hundreds of thousands of displaced persons across the country. The decision allows the government to assume direct control over refugee documentation through its own Refugee Registration Document (DPP) framework, Deputy Foreign Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni told the Senate, as reported by Free Malaysia Today. Under the new DPP framework, Malaysian authorities will no longer rely on data or records provided by third-party…
A coalition of 255 civil society organizations (CSOs) has urged SpaceX to target telecom scam syndicates—locally known as Zhapian gangs—rather than imposing a blanket shutdown of Starlink services in Myanmar, warning that a complete cutoff would sever a critical lifeline for civilians in areas under junta-imposed internet blackouts. In an open letter sent to SpaceX on July 17, the groups—including the Myanmar Internet Project (MIP)—emphasized that residents in conflict zones have gone to extraordinary lengths to acquire Starlink equipment despite severe financial hardship. For many, satellite internet has become their sole connection to the outside world. The coalition highlighted Starlink’s…
The Myanmar military regime is deploying nearly 1,000 reinforcement troops to southern Chin State following heavy casualties and tactical setbacks against resistance forces in Mindat and Kanpetlet towns, according to local sources and resistance fighters. On July 10, a military column of approximately 400 troops departed from the Weapons Factory 24 (Directorate of Defence Industry 24) in Magway Region’s Pauk Township. Advancing along the Pauk-Kyaukhtu Road, the convoy of five trucks reached Saw Township and is heading toward Artillery Battalion 368 in Kyaukhtu. Before their arrival, a separate 100-troop detachment from the same artillery battalion had been conducting reconnaissance between…
Hundreds of civilians displaced from Khampat Town and the Kanan village tract, who fled to Kale Town in northwestern Myanmar’s Sagaing Region, are facing worsening healthcare crises and severe livelihood hardships. Many are falling ill as they adapt to drastic weather changes amid the ongoing monsoon season. Both Khampat and Kanan are located in Tamu Township, near the India-Myanmar border. Since June 7, Myanmar’s military junta has launched aggressive offensives along the strategic Kale–Tamu Road, forcing residents from Khampat and approximately 50 surrounding villages to abandon their homes. More than a month after the initial escalation, the vast majority of…
Thousands of residents displaced from downtown Tonzang and surrounding villages in northern Chin State remain unable to return home more than a month later, sparking urgent needs for humanitarian assistance, including medicines and basic food supplies. Civilians from Tonzang’s urban wards, adjacent villages, and communities east of the township bordering Kalay, Tamu, and Khampat have been displaced since May, facing severe hardships, an official from the resistance-run Tonzang People’s Administration told Khonumthung News. “People from downtown Tonzang and the surrounding villages are still displaced and facing extremely grim conditions,” the official said. “Displaced populations across the township desperately need livelihoods,…
Intense urban clashes in downtown Thantlang, Chin State, have entered a new phase as junta forces have allegedly begun deploying chemical-laced munitions alongside suicide drones, according to the Chinland Defence Force–Thantlang (CDF-Thantlang). Fighting has raged uninterrupted in Thantlang for over 20 days, from June 10 through the morning of July 1. A CDF-Thantlang spokesperson said junta troops have suffered setbacks in ground operations, while resistance forces have gained the upper hand, prompting the regime to resort to these unconventional tactics. “The junta has started using chemical-laced bombs. On the ground, we have been stronger in direct clashes. Because of that,…
Resistance forces from Chin State, Arakan (Rakhine) State, and Magway Region are jointly resisting a major junta offensive targeting the southern Chin State towns of Mindat and Kanpetlet. The offensive is being countered by a coalition comprising the Chin People’s Union/Chin People’s Army (CPU/CPA), the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA), and resistance forces under the Magway Federal Unit. Since mid-May, the alliance has successfully held back junta columns—reportedly numbering in the thousands—for more than a month despite sustained assaults. In a statement, the ULA/AA said the junta has committed large numbers of troops in an attempt to break through…
Despite the junta’s announcement that it has regained complete control of Khampat Town in Sagaing Region, located along the India-Myanmar border trade route linking Kale and Tamu, fierce fighting is still ongoing in parts of the town, according to resistance frontline sources in the area. Junta troops have stormed and occupied Wards 2, 3, and 4 with large numbers of forces. However, clashes continue in Ward 1, which remains the main stronghold of resistance forces, particularly around the police station, the former junta military camp, and the Immigration Department office. A military analyst from Tamu Town in Sagaing Region said…