Two ambushes inflicted heavy casualties on junta troops stationed at a base on the Monywa-Mandalay highway last Friday, while four resistance fighters and a civilian were also killed during the clashes in Sagaing Regions Monywa District, two resistance groups said.

A combined force of resistance fighters used heavy explosives to attack regime forces and a pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia at a junta base on the highway in Monywa Township on Friday, according to a statement by the Monywa District Peoples Defense Force (PDF) Battalion 24. The PDF is under the command of the Defense Ministry of the civilian National Unity Government.

Troops from the junta base have been extorting money from drivers of civilian vehicles on the highway, the PDF said.

At 1:20pm on Friday, fighters from six joint resistance groups ambushed forces from the junta base while they were extorting money from civilians using the highway, according to PDF South Monywa, which joined Battalion 24 in the ambush.

Two junta soldiers were gunned down at close range while they were coming near the [hidden] resistance forces to get drinking water, the South Monywa PDF said in its statement.

A shootout lasted several minutes after other regime forces arrived at the scene.

Later, at about 4:20pm, the resistance groups attacked the junta base again, using both firearms and improvised explosive devices.

At least 10 regime forces were killed in the second attack, according to PDF Battalion 24.

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Junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) chairman Thein Soe flew to Cambodia to observe the countrys national election on Sunday a vote that was dismissed by the international community as neither free nor fair.

The former Major-General flew to Phnom Penh on Friday at the invitation of the Cambodias election commission to observe the election for the 7th National Assembly, according to junta media.

Thein Soe and his team visited the country to observe its election system, election procedures, voting and vote counting, the reports said.

Prime Minister Hun Sens Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) has claimed a landslide victory in Sundays poll that excluded the only viable opposition party.

As the longest-serving elected leader in Asia, Hun Sen has been in power for nearly four decades. In January last year, he flew to Myanmar to meet junta boss Min Aung Hlaing, amid criticism of the first visit by a head of government since the army seized power from an elected government in 2021.

Hun Sen has himself been described as coup leader, after he seized power from his co-prime minister in 1997. He is notorious for crackdowns on political opponents, while CPP-affiliated groups in other countries, including Australia, have been accused of threatening and harassing Cambodian refugees and their children.

On Monday, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States is troubled that the July 23 Cambodian national elections were neither free nor fair.

Miller denounced that in the run-up to the election, authorities engaged in a pattern of threats and harassment against the political opposition, media, and civil society that undermined the spirit of the countrys constitution and Cambodias international obligations. These actions denied the Cambodian people a voice and a choice in determining the future of their country.

The only viable opposition party, the Candlelight Party, was disqualified from participating in the vote due to a technicality in May. Its application was rejected by the National Election Committee because a registration document was deemed not to be an original even though it was issued by the countrys Ministry of Interior.

Opposition supporters were arrested in the run-up to Sundays vote for allegedly encouraging the spoiling of ballot papers in protest of the one-horse election race. Internet service providers were also ordered to block access to the websites of several independent news and information outlets.

Boycotting and disrupting the poll was also criminalized.

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No place in Myanmar illustrates the rampant theft of natural resources by military cronies better than the Pegu Range (Bago Yoma).

Family members of a retired Lieutenant-General have been granted almost 80 square kilometers of these forested uplands, which form a 475-kilometer spine in central Myanmar.

Lt-Gen Ohn Myints wife and daughter were handed 19,182 acres of Kapaung reserved forest in Taungoo District, Bago Region under the quasi-civilian regime of president and ex-general U Thein Sein.

His wife Daw Nu Nu Swe and daughter Daw Thiri Swe are officially listed as directors of Thiri Bhetsone, the company that owns the land. Bhetsone indicates a multi-operation company.

Ohn Myint headed the armys No. 3 Bureau of Special Operations under the previous military regime, known as the State Peace and Development Council, and was sanctioned by the European Union.

A graduate of the 17th Defense Services Academy (DSA) intake, he also served as DSA commandant, as well as chief of Northern Command.

He gained notoriety for a profanity-laden outburst in 2014 when he threatened residents of a village in Magwe Region while he was minister of livestock, fisheries and rural development under Thein Sein. He earned the nickname Ohn Myint the slapper after telling villagers who were protesting a lack of clean water that he wouldnt hesitate to slap those who complained about government policies.

Other business entities listed under Ohn Myint family ownership include the Thiri gems company and Thiri tourism company. Daw Nu Nu Swe and Daw Thiri Swe sit on the boards of both companies.

The Thiri gems company operates jade mines in Kachin States Hpakant and a jade-cutting factory in Naypyitaw.

The Thiri agricultural company was granted the land in Pegu Range to develop an eco-tourism site along with an elephant sanctuary.

While serving as a minister, Ohn Myint told Chinese media that the company owned by his wife and daughter would cooperate with Austrias Fours Paws International to establish an elephant sanctuary called the Pegu Kapaung Forest Wildlife Sanctuary.

He boasted at the time that the site would become the worlds biggest sanctuary for elephants.

The company then employed locals to conserve the forest and plant trees.

The vast forested area granted to Ohn Myints family boasts scenic views ideal for luxury resorts and housing projects.

Other generals and Union-level officials serving in U Thein Seins administration also grabbed land in Pego Range under the pretext of forest conservation.

Among them was the current regimes information minister, retired Maj-Gen Maung Maung Ohn. However, he was forced to return the land to the state when the now-ousted National League for Democracy reappropriated idle forest and vacant plots.

Almost 50,000 more people were displaced by the escalating conflict between junta troops and resistance forces in Myanmar between June 12 and July 17, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

An additional 46,700 people were displaced in four regionsSagaing, Tanintharyi, Magwe and eastern Bagoand five statesChin, Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Mon and Shanduring the five weeks, reports released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in June and July say.

At least 20,000 people in Tanintharyi Region, 13,700 in Sagaing Region and 9,300 in Karen State were displaced by conflict during the period. Another 3,500 people in Mon State and 3,100 in Bago Region fled their homes during the five weeks due to escalating fighting between junta troops and resistance forces, or raids, indiscriminate shelling, airstrikes, and the threat of arrest or murder by junta forces.

The new figures raise the total of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Myanmar to nearly 1.9 million.

The number of IDPs surpassed 1.8 million in Myanmar on June 12, 2023, according to UNHCR.

Ongoing fighting between regime troops and anti-regime forces in resistance strongholds after the February 1, 2021 coup is the cause in the surge of IDPs.  There were an estimated 328,000 IDPs in Myanmar before the coup. Of estimated 1.9 million IDPs now, 83 percent (over 1.5 million) were displaced after the coup in seven states and four regions.

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Online vendors in Myanmar are preparing to close their Facebook accounts and halt business after the juntas Ministry of Commerce announced they must register within six months from July 21.

The junta categorized online selling as an essential service under Section 4 of the goods and services law earlier this month, meaning operators must apply for a registration certificate.

Unregistered sellers face prosecution under Section 5 of the same law, which carries punishment of up to three years in jail and a maximum fine of 500,000 kyats (US$ 238 as per the market rate).

E-commerce in Myanmar has soared since the Covid pandemic, with everyone from ordinary households to celebrities selling goods online. Items offered range from food, clothing and home appliances to jewelry and real estate.

However, some online vendors suspect the cash-strapped junta is seeking new tax revenue for its multi-front war on civilian and armed resistance.

Most online vendors sell only a small amount of goods and their businesses are not huge. So, if the military regime pressures us, I will stop selling online, a Yangon-based online food vendor told The Irrawaddy.

Another online vendor who sells cosmetics said that she plans to close her Facebook page because she is worried that the ministry will force registered operators to pay tax.

They are pushing us into trouble and hardship in various ways. I dont want to register and I dont want to contact them because I dislike them, she told the Irrawaddy.

However, Commerce Minister Aung Naing Oo insisted that the registration order is designed to protect consumer rights following a flood of complaints to the consumer affairs department.

This order does not prohibit online selling. All online vendors can sell legal goods after registering. Registration must be done online and the fee must be paid. The online sales registration system will be introduced soon, Aung Naing Oo announced on Facebook.

Registration only takes a few hours and is mandatory for individuals and companies who sell goods online, he added.

In fact, all online businesses in other countries have to register, pay tax and follow rules and regulations. Myanmar is not doing this alone, the junta minister said.

With the registration fee yet to be announced, online vendors are monitoring the situation closely before making decisions on their future.

The commander and deputy commander of the Myanmar militarys Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 2, overseen by the 44th Light Infantry Division, have been detained at the battalions headquarters for disobeying orders during the militarys recent fighting against combined resistance forces near the border town of Myawaddy in Karen State, according to sources.

The division commander ordered the two to fight. But they didnt, and returned [to the headquarters]. They have been jailed. More sergeants and corporals from the battalion were sent out to the front line, said an officer from LIB 2 who asked for anonymity.

LIB 2 is based in Mon States Kyaikto Township. Its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Arkar Aung and his deputy, Major Kyaw Thu Maung, were put behind bars when they arrived back in Kyaikto on July 21.

Resistance forces led by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) occupied a hill-top junta outpost near Myawaddy on Friday following three days of fighting.

Junta troops suffered heavy casualties, and survivors fled the outposts. Resistance troops also seized weapons from them, said Cobra Column, one of the resistance groups fighting alongside the KNLA near Myawaddy.

The Karen National Union (KNU), the political wing of the KNLA, said on Monday that 10 junta troops were killed and 11 others injured in the resistance raid.

A resistance fighter was also killed and four injured.

Since the second week of July, clashes have renewed in the area around Lat Khet Tuang Mountain in the west of Myawaddy Township.

In March, the Myanmar military replaced Mon State-based Southeastern Command chief Major-General Myat Thet Oo with Brigadier-General Soe Min as part of its regular reshuffle.

The KNU and Peoples Defense Forces have escalated their joint attacks on regime targets in Karen and Mon states and Bago and Tanintharyi regions.

At least 49 Myanmar junta forces were killed in the last four days as Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs) and an ethnic armed organization (EAO) continued to attack regime targets across the country.

Incidents were reported in Karen and Chin states and Sagaing, Magwe and Tanintharyi regions.

The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and the EAO.

Some military casualties could not be independently verified.

Junta base seized in Karen

The Defense Ministry of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) said its armed wingsthe PDFsand its ally, the Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), managed to seize a junta base on Lat Khat Taung Mountain in Myawaddy Township, Karen State last Friday.

A large quantity of ammunition and military equipment were seized in the resistance raid.

The KNU said on Monday that 10 regime forces were killed and 11 injured. A resistance fighter was also killed and four suffered injuries.

Junta base raided in Sagaing

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PHNOM PENHCambodias ruling party declared on Sunday it was on course for a landslide victory in an election where all meaningful opposition to long-time ruler Hun Sen was eliminated before polling day.

The 70-year-old former Khmer Rouge cadre has ruled since 1985 and faced no real contest in the vote, with opposition parties banned, challengers forced to flee and freedom of expression stifled.

His Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) is expected to retain all 125 seats in the lower house, prolonging his grip on power and paving the way for him to hand the reins to his son in a dynastic succession some critics have compared to North Korean politics.

The only serious opposition party was disqualified on a technicality in the run-up to the polls and it will be a surprise if any of the 17 other small, poorly funded parties win seats.

We are winning a landslide, CPP spokesman Sok Eysan told AFP around two hours after polls closed, with counting underway.

He later told AFP the party had won between 78 and 80 percent of the votes according to its own count.

Some provincial results are expected to trickle in overnight, though the final tally of seats will not be officially confirmed for several weeks.

More than 9.7 million people were registered to vote in Cambodias seventh election since the United Nations first sponsored polls in 1993 after years of conflict, including the era of the genocidal Khmer Rouge, devastated the country.

Whatever hopes the international community might have had for a vibrant, multi-party democracy in Cambodia over the past 30 years have been flattened by the juggernaut of Hun Sens rule.

Voter turnout recorded at around 9 p.m. was 85 percent and Hun Sen said this showed support for opposition groups had collapsed.

The Cambodian people wont let the cheating groups destroy the country, he wrote on his official Telegram channel.

Dynastic rule

With victory for Hun Sen all but assured, eyes will turn to Hun Manet, his son and anointed successor, after the veteran PM said he could hand over power within a few weeks.

We have exercised our civil right and responsibility and right of citizens to vote to choose the party we love to lead the country, the 45-year-old scion told reporters after casting his ballot.

Many wonder whether Hun Manet, educated in the United States and Britain, might bring change to the countrythough Hun Sen has made it clear that he intends to keep pulling strings even after his son takes over.

Asked by AFP what he planned to do for Cambodia when he became prime minister, Hun Manet replied: I have no comment on that.

Rights groups have condemned the election, with a 17-strong coalition saying on the eve of polling that the ballot was of profound concern.

Parties dissolve...

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 prisone...