Deadly outbreak of hemorrhagic dengue in Shan State

At least ten people are dead after an outbreak of hemorrhagic dengue fever in Burma’s Shan State, near the border with Thailand. The Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) reports the outbreak is centred on the towns of Moncton and Monghsat opposite Thailand’s Chiangmai province. The first case was found on August 20 in Mongton [...]

KIO reiterates rejection of BGF proposal

The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) has said its armed wing; the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) will not join the Burmese military’s new Border Guard Force (BGF). The KIO had already rejected the military’s junta’s proposal for the KIA to come under the military’s command. And after several meetings between the two sides, the junta set [...]

Junta backed party in smear campaign against ethnic Shan party

The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the political party backed by Burma’s ruling military junta is warning residents in Shan State that they will be in danger of they vote for the Shan National Development Party (SNDP), an ethnic Shan party. The Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) reports Naw Kham Oo, the chairman [...]

Burma to stop issuing visas on arrival during election

In a move seen as preventing foreigners from interfering with the country’s upcoming elections, Burmese officials have announced it will suspend the issuing of visas on arrival from the first of next month. Mizzima News reports a senior official from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism as saying Visas on arrival that had been issued [...]

Shan State railway part of military’s armed buildup

A new railway under construction in northern Burma’s Shan State has been denounced by two rights groups as “an expansion of the Burmese regime’s war apparatus in Shan State”. The railway, a 361 kilometer rail link between the Salween River and eastern Shan State is being built on confiscated farmlands along the route says The [...]

Burma’s election raises pressure along the border

Last week, Burma’s state controlled media announced the country’s military rulers had chosen November 7 as the date for the country’s first elections in 20 years. The military has long promised that elections would be held this year, but until Friday the exact date was unknown. The elections are to be held under a new [...]

DKBA ordered not to carry weapons, wear uniforms while travelling

Members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) have been told by Burma’s ruling military junta not to carry weapons or wear uniforms while travelling in Karen State. The Irrawaddy reports the order came from Tactical Operation Command in Thingannyinaung, near the border town of Myawaddy. Under the order, DKBA troops can only hold weapons [...]

Children drown fleeing possible army offensive against DKBA

Three children, including an eight-month-old baby, are dead after the boat they were on sank as they attempted to cross the border into Thailand. The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reports the children were among Karen villagers who in the past week have fled to the border following reports of a possible Burmese army offensive [...]

Five DKBA Battalions defect to KNLA

Five battalions from the pro-junta Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) will defect to the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the opposition Karen National Union (KNU). The split follows divisions within the group over a proposal by the military junta for DKBA troops to join a junta commanded Border Guard Force (BGF). [...]

Tensions rise along Thai-Burma border

Hundreds of Karen villagers have reportedly fled their homes and are heading for the Thai border as the Burmese military reinforced its troops in a standoff with its former allies in the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reports the junta has moved artillery near to Walay, near the border, [...]

Malaria endemic among IDPs

Seven out of ten Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in the jungles east of Taungoo District in Burma’s Pegu Division are in desperate need of malaria medicine. The exiled Mizzima News Agency reports the IDPs, most of who are Karen villagers, who were forced to flee their homes to escape Burmese military offensives are in an [...]

Burma stations missile battalion on Thai border

Burma’s military has stationed a new air defence missile battalion close to the Thai border in southern Burma. The Irrawaddy reports the new division, which is equipped with Russian made surface to air missiles, is based in Aung Thar Warya Village in Palaw Township, Tenasserim Division. It is under the command of the No. 2 [...]

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