Sunday marks the first anniversary of the deaths of veteran 88 Generation pro-democracy activist Ko Jimmy (Kyaw Min Yu) and former National League for Democracy lawmaker and hip-hop star Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, who were hanged by the regime in Yangons Insein Prison on this day last year.

Two anti-coup protesters, Ko Hla Myo Aung and Ko Aung Thura Zaw, met the same fate. The deaths of the four marked the first executions of political prisoners since 1989 and shocked Myanmar people and the international community; many governments had appealed for their death sentences to be commuted.

Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, who were charged under the Counterterrorism Law, were allowed to meet their families on July 22, 2022 for the first time since their arrest. However, the meetings were conducted via Zoom, not in person.

Their family members did not know it would be their last meeting with the pro-democracy activists, or that the two would be hanged the next morning.

Their families only found out about the deaths on July 25 when the junta announced through its state-run newspapers that the executions had been carried out. Family members rushed to Insein Prison, but were not allowed to see the bodies, nor were they told when their husbands and sons were hanged.

On July 27, pro-junta thugs including members of the militarys proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party and the ultranationalist Association for Protection of Race and Religion (known by its Burmese acronym Ma Ba Tha) stoned the houses of Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw. Rallies in support of the executions were held in Yangon and Mandalay in the following days, with junta soldiers and police providing security for protesters.

Prior to the executions, Captain Ohn Kyaw Myint, who plotted to assassinate the generals of the Myanmar Socialist Programme Party, and ethnic Chin student leader Salai Tin Maung Oo were the best-known cases of political dissidents being hanged in Myanmar.

Ko Jimmy was 53 and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw was 41 when the two made the ultimate sacrifice for the democracy struggle in Myanmar.

According to the Assistance Association for Political prisoners, as of June...

A clash has been reported between the Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State, with both sides suffering casualties.

Residents said fierce fighting took place on Wednesday in the Mayu mountains near Sein Hnyin Pyar and Gu Dar Pyin villages.

Five ARSA fighters were killed and an outpost was seized. The AA seized weapons. I heard one AA member was killed and two injured, an AA source told The Irrawaddy.

Neither side has commented on the fighting and The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.

Rakhine media reported that fighting began when ARSA troops entered AA territory in the Mayu mountains.

The fighting sparked fears of an escalation among Muslim and Buddhist communities.

ARSA, a Rohingya militant group, first emerged in 2016 when it reportedly attacked three police outposts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships and on police posts in northern Rakhine State in 2017, killing around 12 officers.

The military retaliated with massive clearance operations against Rohingya villages, prompting an exodus of nearly a million Rohingya to Bangladesh.

ARSA now operates along the border and inside Bangladesh refugee camps. It has later come under fire after the killings of Rohingya community leaders in the refugee camps.

A Muslim representative said ARSA was facing declining support among Muslims and no longer infiltrated the Bangladeshi refugee camps like before.

The Bangladeshi authorities have launched a probe and were hunting the group, with its leader, Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi, reportedly in hiding in Buthidaung Township.

Formed in 2009, the AA has been fighting Myanmars military in Rakhine State on and off since 2015 for Rakhine self-determination. It is backed by Rakhines population and was inflicting heavy casualties in Rakhine State and Paletwa Township in neighboring Chin State until an informal ceasefire was agreed in late 2020.

The AA has since set up its own administration and judiciary across much of Rakhine State.

However, fighting resumed in August 2022. A temporary ceasefire was agreed in November but tensions with the regime remain high.

A Myanmar junta airstrike has hit a Kachin State village near where regime troops have been fighting the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) since last month.

Three jet fighters bombed Nam San Yang village, which was previously controlled by the KIA about 9km from its Laiza headquarters, on Friday night.

No casualties were reported as villagers fled last month, according to KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu.

Some livestock were killed and houses and an administration office were destroyed.

The KIA on Thursday attacked junta reinforcements from Bhamo Township at La Gyar Yang village in Momauk Township.

The village is on the Myitkyina-Bhamo road, about 22km south of Nam San Yang.

On Thursday, we shelled their troops from Bhamo for about 20 minutes, said Col Naw Bu.

The Kachin media reported heavy junta losses. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.

Col Naw Bu reported that about 1,000 junta troops were stuck between Nam San Yang and Nalone villages, trying to shell the KIAs headquarters.

So we shelled them back every day. Tensions are high and we have to stay alert, he said.

This week, junta reinforcements have come from the Military Operations Command in Bhamo Township along the Myitkyina road towards Laiza.

Former army captain, U Htet Myat, who joined the civil disobedience movement, served in Kachin State before his defection. He predicted a defeat for the junta forces because of the KIAs military strength.

It seems the junta thinks it is easy to fight the KIA. But its not that easy at all, as we saw back in 2021, said Captain Htet Myat.

He added that the regime commanders involved were cowards with little military skill.

Myanmar junta troops killed 11 civilians and three resistance fighters in Yinmabin Township, Sagaing Region, on Friday, according to residents.

Troops stationed in Yinmabin town raided Sone Chaung village before dawn on Saturday and beheaded three Bo Tun Tauk Peoples Defense Force members, who were guarding the village.

They then killed 11 male villagers, the group said.

First, we found the bodies of the three fighters in the village center. The other bodies were spread around. Some had been tortured, said a villager.

Other villagers were taken away and their condition is unknown. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.

The three resistance fighters were named Ko Pyae Phyo Tun, Ko Sai Thu San and Ko Nay Min Tun.

The civilians killed were U Myo Myint Oo, U Kyaw Oo, U Yan Naing Soe, U Swe Gyi, U Aung Win Swe, U Naing Min, U Tote Kyi, U Lwin Moe Tun, U Htay Zaw, U Phoe Aung and U Aung Zaw Win, according to the resistance group.

Pro-junta Telegram channels released the same names but said they were all resistance fighters.

A funeral was held yesterday and the 14 bodies were cremated together.

Dr Sasa, the National Unity Governments minister for international cooperation, posted on Facebook that the Yinmabin atrocity was one of around 80 massacres committed by the junta since the 2021 coup.

The genocidal military junta hides behind secrecy, evading international scrutiny. But we cannot remain silent observers; we must take decisive action now, he said.

Dr Sasa, known by only one name, called on the international community to cut the flow of money, weapons and legitimacy to the junta.

Let us stand in solidarity with the loved ones, families and villagers of Yinmabin during this heart-wrenching time, deliberately created by the genocidal junta and supported by their partners in crime, he said.

In March at least four civilians in Kone village, Yinmabin Township, were killed by junta troops after they torched the village.

Police have been unable to perform their primary duty of law enforcement since the coup as they have been busy helping the Myanmar military impose a crackdown on dissidents. The resulting lawlessness has allowed criminal gangs and allied human traffickers to thrive in areas controlled by ethnic armed organizations on the Myanmar-China border.

Human traffickers have expanded their network to major cities like Yangon and Mandalay, key border towns including Lashio and Tachilek, and even Sagaing and Magwe regions in central Myanmar, which is experiencing fierce fighting between junta and resistance forces. Here, they lure young people with the promise of high-paying jobs, before trafficking them to Wa State, an autonomous enclave in northeastern Myanmar controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA).

At least 350 people were trafficked in Wa State from February 2021 to May 2023, according to data compiled by the UWSA, Thai authorities, news agencies in northern Shan State, and The Irrawaddy.

Among those trafficked were young people from Yangon, Mandalay, Lashio, Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Sagaing and Magwe as well citizens from fellow ASEAN countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Indonesia, and from Russia. This figure only represents those who have been rescued or sought help. The actual number of trafficked victims is likely to be far higher.

Wa State

Wa State, officially the Wa Self-Administered Division, is located in northern Shan State on the border with China.

The UWSA is headquartered in Panghsan, and the self-administered division is made up of Mongmao, Monglin and M...

Indian road diplomacy

Ties between Myanmars military regime and neighboring India are deepening despite international condemnation of the juntas atrocities against its own civilians.

On Sunday, junta foreign minister Than Swe attended the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation meeting in Bangkok and held talks with his Indian counterpart Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on speedy completion of the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway.

Construction of the highway is around 70 percent complete. Following the meeting with Than Swe, the Indian minister expressed concerns via Twitter that instability in Myanmar could disrupt the highways construction. The two ministers also discussed the India-funded Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project in Myanmar.

On Thursday, Indian Ambassador to Myanmar Vinay Kumar paid a call on the juntas international cooperation minister Ko Ko Hlaing in Naypyitaw to discuss construction of the trilateral highway.

In November last year, Indias Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra flew to Myanmar to hold talks with junta boss Min Aung Hlaing on the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport project. Min Aung Hlaing has called India a good neighbor and is pushing for rapid implementation of the project. Sittwe port, which is part of the Kaladan Project, was opened in the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe on May 9.

China seeking law leverage

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