Tag: Mandalay

This Month in Ah Nyar: A Quick Overview

• The military regime showed carefully staged gestures towards Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. They delivered two books sent by King Charles III together with a sealed diplomatic letter. She spoke with her son, Kim Aris, for about 20 minutes via the Myanmar Embassy in London.
• Sub-national governments in Central Burma continued institution-building by the interim federal units. Meanwhile, the regime’s peace talks with a Naga armed group reopened a long-running territorial dispute in northern Sagaing. In Sagaing, the Human Rights Department held a three-day workshop and the NUG began investigating Mingin Township administrator and Pa Ka Pha leader over the alleged misuse of approx. 3.5 million USD. In Magway, the NUG handed administrative functions to the Interim Magway Federal Unit Government. In Mandalay, the NUG’s Central Committee for Interim Local People’s Administration held two meetings with the region’s People’s Administration Teams, and the Committee Representing the Mandalay Hluttaw met weekly.
• The military junta concentrated its ground operations on trade corridors, notably the Mandalay–Shwebo–Monywa, Monywa–Kalewa and Kalay–Gangaw roads, and on recovering positions in Katha District. It increasingly relied on defectors as guides. It also prepared a two-pronged push on the Kalay–Gangaw road with Pyu Saw Htee militias from 12 villages. Raids and ambushes continued in Nyaung-U, Thabeikkyin and Myingyan.
• KIA and PDF forces seized a strategic SNA base in Homalin Township on 23 October. Eagle Brothers resistance force captured Colonel Zaw Myo Tint near Sagaing on 18 October. Former BNRA fighters serving in a military column were captured on their way to Kanpetlet.
• Airstrikes, paramotor and gyrocopter attacks killed civilians in Shwebo, Depayin, Butalin, Chaung-U, Kanbalu, Monywa and Indaw (Sagaing) and in Mindon (Magway). Among them was the 11 October bombing of the historic Maha Si Monastery in Shwebo. A mass grave of 12 men killed in 2023 was uncovered in Myaing Township. The gang rape of five girls by soldiers was reported in Natogyi Township.

Politics

The military regime announced that, between 10:40 and 10:50 a.m. on 19 October, its Ministry of Home Affairs officials met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. They delivered two books sent by King Charles III, Soil to Table and Soil: The World at Our Feet, together with a sealed letter and a sealed diplomatic letter. Three days later, on 22 October, she spoke with her son, Kim Aris, for about 20 minutes via the Myanmar Embassy in London. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs framed the call as a humanitarian concession made under ICRC procedures and the coup leader’s special authority. Her remaining sentence was converted to detention at a “designated residence” on 30 April 2026. Some analysts have described the call as a political calculation by the regime.

The SRA held its second conference from 28 to 30 September, with around 95 participants. Attendees included the NUG Acting President and the Arakan Army’s deputy commander-in-chief, while the NUG, AA, Women’s League of Burma, ABSDF and KNDF gave opening speeches. The conference established a Secretariat, adopted accountability policies including disciplinary action against members who commit war crimes, and reiterated that the coalition is “not only a military coalition but also a political alliance”. As the UN Credentials Committee prepares its decision, strike groups across Sagaing, including the Salingyi Township strike force, rallied under the slogan “Our Ambassador. Our Voice. Our Representative” in support of U Kyaw Moe Tun remaining Myanmar’s Permanent Representative.

During Thadingyut, resistance units paid respects to the families of fallen comrades and lit candles at their graves.

Sagaing

Sagaing Federal Unit Interim Government continued to strengthen its administration and its ties with civil servants in October. On 1 October, Deputy Chief Minister Dr Aung Nay Win met members of the Sagaing CDM Civil Servants Council via Zoom. From 12 to 14 October, the interim government’s Human Rights Department held a three-day workshop with partner organisations to plan its internal development and future work. Sagaing NLD executive and central committee members also met the executive committee of the Sagaing CDM Civil Servants Council. Within resistance administration in Mingin, NUG formed an investigation committee into Mingin Township’s People’s Administration Team head, U Win Min Soe, and People’s Defence Team head, U Nyo Lwin. The investigation followed complaints that they had misused more than 15 billion kyat (approximately US$3.5 million).

In northern Sagaing, the regime’s National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Committee (NSPNC) held talks with the NSCN-K (AM), a newly created faction of the Khaplang’s NSCN led by Ang Mai. Both parties discussed proposing to the regime’s parliament, under the 2008 Constitution, that more townships be added to the Naga Self-Administered Zone and that villages be upgraded to towns. The NSCN-K (AM)’s representative Chin Maung subsequently told press that the group asked for Hkamti (Sagaing) and Shinbwiyang (Kachin) to be included. It also said five border trade routes had been permitted, mainly linking Lahe to India, Nanyun to the Pangsaung Pass, and the Leshi area. The Shanni community has objected, as it did in 2020 when similar demands for Hkamti and Homalin were raised under previous governments (Shanni Voice; The Irrawaddy).

Separately, on 4 October, the NUG Ministry of Defence’s Lahe Township People’s Defence Team (Pa Ka Pha) opened its new base in Lahe Township.

Magway

The NUG and the Interim Magway Federal Unit Government held a ceremony to transfer administrative functions to the federal unit. It builds on September’s developments, when the Magway Federal Unit Parliament passed a Defence Force Law and the Chief Minister reported working with the NUG to bring local People’s Defence Forces under Federal Unit command. It is not yet clear whether the federal unit has the revenue, personnel and security capacity to govern effectively under sustained military pressure, particularly in Pakokku and Gangaw districts.

Separately, the Asho Chin Defence Force (ACDF), formed on 16 November 2021, renamed itself the Asho National Organisation/Asho National Army (ANO/ANA). The decision was taken at its conference of 20 to 24 September. The group cited its goals of building an “Asho Land” with guaranteed self-determination, establishing a federal democratic union and eradicating all forms of dictatorship. The group’s move towards becoming a national political-military organisation signals an explicit identity-based agenda. It is significant because the group operates in western Magway, along the border with Rakhine (Arakan) State.

The now ANO/ANA is one of two Asho ethnic resistance groups active in Ngape and Sidoktaya townships. It has no military or political alliance with the other, CDF-Asho, and our security records show no operational cooperation between them. Instead, the group has built alliances with other resistance forces in Magway (PRA-Magway, Triangle 3T PDF, Myay Latt Bamar Defence Force, Galon People’s Defence Force, Minbu District Battalion No. 2, New Society Army and People’s Independence Army). More broadly, it is aligned with the Arakan Army in its backyard.

The new formation raises an unresolved question about how Asho Chin claims to self-determination will fit within the emerging Magway Federal Unit, whose territory overlaps with Asho Chin communities. How the federal unit and the ANO/ANA handle jurisdiction, representation and command could become an early test of whether the resistance’s federal vision can accommodate ethnic minorities within Bamar-majority regions.

Mandalay

Committee Representing the Mandalay Hluttaw (CRMH) held three weekly coordination meetings (36/2026 to 38/2026), on 3, 10 and 17 October, to review the Hluttaw’s ongoing work and the sectoral committees’ reports. The 17 October meeting also included a session with the Hluttaw Representatives Vetting Committee.

The NUG’s Central Committee for Interim Local People’s Administration held two meetings (20/2026 and 22/2026) with Mandalay Region’s People’s Administration Teams along with Mandalay Interim Governing Council (MIGC). At each, township People’s Administration Teams raised questions about coordinating administrative work, and officials from the relevant ministries responded. Attendees included Council chair U Myint Aung Moe, vice-chair U Aung Myo Latt and Council members. The Central Committee was represented by its permanent secretaries, deputy secretaries and joint secretaries, along with departmental officials. Members of township People’s Administration Teams from Mandalay Region also attended. Separately, MIGC Education Department issued a recognition statement on nine online schools for basic education.

Security

Sagaing

From 30 September, two military columns totalling more than 450 troops advanced in a pincer movement along the Mandalay–Shwebo–Monywa road, guided by former resistance members who had surrendered. By 21 October, the offensive towards the Monywa–Kalewa road had lasted 177 days and left some 7,500 people from ten villages displaced. The military was also reported to be preparing an offensive to control the Kalay–Gangaw road. The main road connects Central Burma towards hilly Chin state and India. Pyu Saw Htee militia leaders and members from 12 Pyi Saw Htee posts from northen Gangaw and southern Kalay townships met two times at Hanthawaddy village on 26 October and at Myauk Khin Yan village on 31 October. In addition, the military junta gathered troops from the Tamu area of Kalay Township at Supply and Transport Battalion 934 in Kalay.

On 18 October, local defence force the Linyone Nyi Naung (Eagle Brothers) guerrilla force captured Colonel Zaw Myo Tint, deputy operations commander of the No. 72 Armoured Operations Command, near the Kantalu checkpoint in Sagaing Township. The next day, about 250 troops entered western Sagaing Township, backed by an Mi-35 helicopter. Following the recent surrender of its 38 members, the Sadaung Thunder Defense Force (a local defence force based in Sagaing Township) dissolved and handed its weapons to the NUG. In Katha District, the military mounted operations near Kyaukmaw village to extract trapped military families and heavy fighting broke out in Indaw Township, where around 500 troops were deployed. In the north, KIA and PDF forces seized a strategic military and SNA base at Taung Oo village, Homalin Township, on 22 October after about 20 days of fighting. The SNA also clashed with resistance forces in Banmauk.

Magway

In Yesagyo Township, resistance forces attacked the Pyu Saw Htee post in Gway Cho village. Separately, a major Pyu Saw Htee leader from the post in Zee Taw village was killed in a resistance ambush in the same township. In Laungshe of Saw township, a Light Infantry Division 77 column from Defence Products Industry No. 25 of the military regime entered the town and one soldier was reportedly found hanged on the Laungshe bridge. On the Pauk–Myaing border, military columns suffered losses in fighting over the oil fields. Pakokku-based LID 101 deployed more troops in the area by dispatching a reinforcement convoy. On 21 October, a resistance member and a guard reportedly freed 13 prisoners of war captured at the Myitchay police station and defected to the military with weapons. 13 of them were later re-captured by the local defence force authority. In Seikphyu township, two frontline posts of the NUG Battalion 19 in Htainkan and Tamarchaung villages were attacked and local leaders including Bo Ma Htar were killed.

From 17 October, the NUG’s Gangaw District Battalion 6 closed the Popa-kaing–Lephyu–Wekku road in Saw Township to cars and trucks for security reasons. Former Burma National Revolutionary Army (BNRA) fighters, now serving in a military column (of military junta), were captured alive by the joint resistance force as the column passed through Magway on its way to Kanpetlet in Chin State. The BNRA was a resistance group led by Bo Nagar who surrendered to the military junta earlier this year.

In Mindon, resistance forces from Magway alongside Arakan Army fought against the military column advancing towards western corner of Magway connecting Magway towards Rakhine. The Arakan Army fought a military column for two consecutive days on the Ann–Mindon road, capturing prisoners and weapons.

In junta-controlled Magway town, the junta organised a cohort of basic military training for university students, with plans reportedly extending it to middle and high school students. The training was reportedly conducted at the LIB 301.

Mandalay

In Mandalay Region, resistance forces kept up raids and ambushes on military posts and columns in Nyaung-U, Thabeikkyin and Myingyan townships in October. Meanwhile, the NUG’s local commands moved to tighten control over arms, military activity and training in their areas.

On 11 October, the Popa Guerrilla Force and allied PDFs raided a temporary military post on the Byatta Panset Road in Nyaung-U Township. On 24 October, resistance forces attacked military outposts between Tagaung and Tigyaing on the Mandalay–Tigyaing–Bhamo Road in Thabeikkyin Township. In Myingyan Township, the Taloke PDF ambushed two military columns north of Taloke town on 28 October, reportedly killing at least ten soldiers. The attack is a recent sign that resistance forces can still contest military movements in the area. Separately, the commander of the NUG Ministry of Defence’s Myingyan District Command banned arms trading in the district and warned of severe penalties. The ban points to concern over the unregulated circulation of weapons but details should be further monitored.

In Madaya Township, PDF Pyin Oo Lwin District Battalion 1 announced that all military or other operations in the township must be notified to it in advance. In neighbouring Singu Township, the local PDF graduated its sixth basic military training batch on 11 October.

Human Rights

In October, the Tatmadaw continuously conducted airstrikes against civilians and property in townships of Central Burma, including Chaung U, Butalin, Kanbalu, Yesagyo, and Myaing townships, where local resistance forces are active. Among them, the massacre cases, involving six people’s deaths, are recorded in airstrikes on gold-mining rafts in the Thaphanseik Dam area, western Kyunhla township, Sagaing Region.

The historical sites and religious buildings are damaged due to aerial attacks. For instance, on 11 October 2026, at approximately 12:00 p.m., the Myanmar military carried out an airstrike on the historic Maha Si Monastery in Seik Khun village, Shwebo township, Sagaing Region, while displaced civilians from western Shwebo were observing religious precepts on a Buddhist Sabbath Day (Uposatha Day). According to the Shwebo People’s Defence Team (Pa Ka Pha), two displaced civilians died while receiving medical treatment, and at least eight others were injured.  

Those attacks involved paramotors, gyro-copters, and suicide drones used by the Tatmadaw in different townships of Sagaing. Forms of repeated aerial attacks were recorded in October, for instance, in Butalin township. The victims include the same family members in Depayin township due to a paramotor that flew from the North-western regional command on October 8, around 1:00 pm, according to local sources. A day later, in Nyaung Pa Hto village, a similar aerial attack resulted in two people, including a 24-year-old disabled man, being injured.

In Magway, according to our monitoring information, civilians are targeted by aerial attacks in areas such as Myaing, Yesagyo, Mindon and Seikhypu. The daily attacks near the oil fields in the township of Myaing were frequent as part of Tatmadaw’s strategy to control the territory for the sake of political economic interests. In addition, after over three years, evidence of mass killings was uncovered on October 4 in Gway Kone village, Myaing township. The twelve men were extrajudicially killed after being arrested by LID 101 on June 9, 2023, after being taken hostage, according to local sources. The local aid group collected the personal belongings, the national identification card, as well as skeletal remains at the incident site.

Moreover, Tatmadaw’s arbitrary cases, including porter and conscription, are reported in Salin township. The military authorities targeted young people and imposed a curfew within the territory on Sep 22.  Similar forms of arrests under conscription against youths were carried out by Thida Yu Mon paramilitary forces of the Tatmadaw in Myingyan township, Mandalay. Locals reported that families of the youth in Myingyan were forcibly asked to give money ranging from 30000 MMK to 100,000 MMK for the youth migrants, depending on the country they migrated to.

Conflict-related sexual violence also happened in the village of Natogyi township, Mandalay. Five young girls were subjected to gang-rape by the column of Tatmadaw forces on October 5. Most of them are sisters within the family, according to our team’s investigation. The survivor girls are in critical need of mental support.