The announcement that a new 20,000 kyat banknotes will be introduced at the end of this month has sent a jolt of inflation panic through Myanmars financial markets, and raised concerns among business people that more economic turmoil and pain lies ahead.

The junta-controlled Central Bank of Myanmar announced on Sunday that it will issue new 20,000 kyat banknotes on July 31, a denomination that is double the value of the current highest banknote of 10,000 kyats. It has said the new banknote is being issued to commemorate the construction of a giant marble Buddha statue and the first anniversary of the first anniversary of the juntas white elephant calf.

The announcement caused shock. Businesses and markets, especially currency-exchange counters, and gold and jewellery shops, shut or suspended operations. The prices of automobiles and commodities also rose over widespread concerns that the introduction of the new banknotes will cause prices to jump.

Gold and jewellery shops, and currency-exchange counters in Yangon, Mandalay and some border towns closed on Sunday, while Hundi money-transfer services suspended services for a few hours.

On Tuesday, some gold and jewellery shops reopened in Yangon, but even most of those that reopened were not selling.

The price of gold rose from 3.2 million kyats per tical (16.3 grams) on Friday to 3.6 million kyats on Sunday, before falling slightly to 3.5 million kyats on Monday. The rate remained the same today.

Gold traders said most shops suspended sales on Sunday and are only buying back previously sold items due to volatile prices.

We dont dare to display our jewellery in showcases as any chaotic things could happen, the owner of a gold shop in Yangons Latha Township said. In this kind of situation, people tend to make panic purchases. Or a riot could also break out if people become frustrated with how hard their daily living conditions are, the shop owner explained.

With prices rising daily, gold shop owners could face heavy losses within a week if they resumed sales amid intense volatility, she added.

Online Hundi services, especially those that transfer money between Myanmar and Thailand, suspended operations for a few hours on Sunday after the central banks announcement filtered through the state-run media. Currency-exchange counters in Yangon shut immediately and most remained closed as of today.

Although, online Hundi and street-side freelancers in downtown Yangon resumed offering currency-exchange services their exchange rates rose. The average exchange rate between the kyat and the Thai baht on Hundi services on Friday was 85 kyats for one baht. As of today, the rate has risen more than 10% to 95 kyats per baht. Although it is illegal, the Hundi service is widely used for cash transfers inside Myanmar and to and from other countries. It is especially p...

Myanmars junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has handed out 220 honorary titles on his allies, including prominent Buddhist monks, to reward those supporting military rule.

On Sunday he gave titles to Buddhist leaders Sitagu Sayadaw and Dhammasuta Chekinda, the militarys Quartermaster General Kyaw Swar Lin, Myanmar Economic Corporation chairman Lieutenant General Nyo Saw and Aung Khaing Than, who reportedly donated the marble for the colossal Maravijaya Buddha statue in Naypyitaw.

Aung Khaing Than, the managing director of Anglo Mining Co Ltd in Mandalay, was awarded the Shasudhammamaijotadhara title for his remarkable donation to the statue.

The marble block from the familys quarry was donated to former military dictator Than Shwe in 2013 for a Buddha statue. Than Shwe gave the marble to the military, which was then headed by Min Aung Hlaing, in 2017.

Sitagu Sayadaw and Dhammasuta Chekinda, who performed religious rites at what is reportedly the worlds biggest sitting Buddha, were respectively given the Thray Sithu and Sithu titles for their contributions to the statue. The two monks have also received religious titles and promotions within their religious institutions since the 2021 coup.

Nyo Saw, who was appointed as Min Aung Hlaings economic advisor in early July, and Kyaw Swar Lin, who was awarded Sithu title last year, were given the Thray Sithu title.

The military-owned conglomerate MEC is sanctioned by the US and Kyaw Swar Lin was also sanctioned by the EU on July 20.

Lieutenant General Kan Myint Than, chief officer of the Directorate of Defense Industries, who received the Sithu title together with Kyaw Swar Lin last year, was given the Thray Sithu.

Min Aung Hlaing awarded medals to 45 police officers in the resistance strongholds of Sagaing and Magwe regions. Five MEC officers and the general manager of the military-run Inwa Bank also received administrative performance awards.

The junta chief conferred honorary titles on himself and former dictators Ne Win, Saw Maung and Than Shwe.

Min Aung Hlaing has conferred titles on nearly 4,000 people since the 2021 coup.

The titles and medals have cost around 7 billion kyats amid deepening poverty and economic chaos.

A US court has convicted Myanmar national Phyo Hein Htut of conspiring to seriously injure or kill the countrys ambassador to the United Nations, U Kyaw Moe Tun, a vocal critic of the juntas rule.

Phyo Hein Htut and compatriot Ye Hein Zaw, both in their 20s and residents of New York, were arrested by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in mid-2021 on suspicion of plotting to harm U Kyaw Moe Tun. According to the US Attorneys Office, the pair planned to hire assailants to force U Kyaw Moe Tun to resign and, if he refused, to kill him.

Phyo Hein Htut was a member of the volunteer security team of Myanmars Permanent Mission to the United Nations and passed information regarding the ambassador and Myanmars Permanent Mission to the UN to an arms broker in Thailand who did business with the Myanmar military junta. He received money from the arms broker to hire attackers to hurt the ambassador in an attempt to force him to step down from the post, according to a statement issued by the U.S Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York on July 24. However, in the end, he didnt carry out the plan and informed the Permanent Mission of the plot.

While volunteering on a security team at Myanmars Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Phyo Hein Htut betrayed the person he was supposed to be protecting by secretly feeding information about the Ambassador, the Mission, and its personnel to an arms dealer in furtherance of a plot to hurt the Ambassador. The jurys unanimous verdict holds him to account for his actions, Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in the statement.

Phyo Hein Htut was found guilty after eight days of hearings before US district judge Nelson S. Roman. Sentencing is scheduled for March 14, 2024, the US Attorneys Office said.

He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on charges of conspiring to attack a foreign official.

Ye Hein Zaw confessed to participating in the plot. He was convicted in 2021 and served his sentence. He is also subject to deportation, according to U Kyaw Moe Tun.

The ambassador told The Irrawaddy that he was informed of the ruling against Phyo Hein Htut on Friday night by the Department of Justice.

I thanked him [Phyo Hein Htut] as he did not carry out the plot and informed us about it. However, on the other hand, we always say that there must be rule of law and as it happened on American soil, we urged that the case be prosecuted according to their laws, he said.

He said he i...

Myanmar junta troops reportedly detained 20 villagers and killed six others in western Madaya Township and burned almost 200 houses in the east of the Mandalay Region township over two weeks.

Two men were shot dead and a woman wounded in Nyaung Oke village in western Madaya on Monday, according to a resistance group.

Ma Ei Zar Linn was shot in the arm and her father, U Thein Linn and U Shwe Pyone died on the spot, said a representative of the Madaya People Defense Force(PDF).

He added that junta forces detained around 20 villagers in Nyaung Okes monastery on Monday evening.

The fate of the detainees is unknown.

The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.

Around 40 junta troops are reportedly stationed at the monastery.

They are on high alert because boats for reinforcements and supplies will pass through western Madaya on the Irrawaddy River in the coming days, a resistance fighter said.

Another fighter said junta troops frequently detain young villagers during raids, accusing them of fighting with resistance groups.

On July 14, junta infantry troops detained five Nyaung Oke villagers and four days later residents retrieved the bodies of three detainees from the Myaung River, an Irrawaddy tributary.

Only one detainee was released, a villager said.

In eastern Madaya, almost 200 houses in five villages were burned down by junta troops after the Air Defense Battalion near In Gyin Myaing village was shelled by Mandalay Peoples Defense Force (PDF) on July 15.

Junta convoys were then ambushed by resistance forces, according to Mandalay PDF.

Around 700 junta troops were purportedly mobilized in eastern Madaya last week, conducting raids and looting homes.

More than 12 villages in the east of the township have been raided this month, displacing thousands of civilians, according to resistance groups.

Resistance groups claim to have killed pro-junta militia members during an urban raid in the town of Taze, Sagaing Region on Monday.

Fighters of Taze Township Peoples Defense Forces staged a guerilla attack on three vehicles of pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia patrolling the town.

The shootout killed two militia members and wounded three others, said the resistance group, which also seized a vehicle belonging to the militia.

No casualties from the clash were reported among either resistance members or civilians.

A Taze resident told The Irrawaddy that regime forces were stopping and checking vehicles in the town center a day after the clash on Tuesday.

The ambush came after local combined resistance groups repeatedly attacked a junta convoy of 122 troops from July 14 to 17 as it traveled from Taze town to reinforce a police outpost at Kaduma village in the west of the township.

Junta forces deployed an MI 35 helicopter gunship to protect the convoy after sustaining heavy losses.

More than two-dozen regime troops were reportedly killed in the three days of resistance ambushes, according to the rebel groups and local media.

Taze was among the first townships in the country to launch armed resistance against military rule following the February 2021 coup.

The armed uprising in Taze began in early April 2021, when residents took up old-fashioned hunting guns and makeshift air guns to prevent military trucks from entering the town and dispersing an anti-coup demonstration by several-thousand residents.

The township has experienced frequent clashes ever since.

Former Lieutenant-General Myint Swe is known for holding high positions under the previous military regime. However, since the 2021 coup, he has become a puppet of junta boss Min Aung Hlaing, serving as acting president in the current regime.

As a trusted general of former military dictator Than Shwe, Myint Swe served as chief of Yangon Command and Yangon Region chief minister, before becoming the military-nominated vice-president in the now ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government.

So, it is hard to believe that the man who has served in enviable positions throughout his military career and currently holds the countrys highest rank should now be engulfed in a state of doom and gloom.

Myanmar military generals traditional obsession with rank and seniority appears to be consuming Myint Swe.

Part of the Defense Services Academy (DSA) 15th intake, Myint Swe outranks any general in the Myanmar military as well as incumbent and ex-generals serving in the current regime including junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, a graduate of the DSAs 19th intake.

According to Myanmar government protocol, the president takes precedence over everyone, his rank being higher than military chief.

In reality, however, the nominal head of the country is being used merely to extend military rule once every six months. Whenever the National Defense and Security Council meets to prolong military rule, Min Aung Hlaing wheels out Myint Swe to preside and nod approval at whatever the junta boss says.

Meanwhile, Myint Swe remains notably absent from junta cabinet meetings, national-level events, and meetings with diplomats.

It is as if the president were under house arrest, remark senior military officers and heads of departments.

Offering more clues to his resentment is his life at the Presidents Office, which has been taken over by Min Aung Hlaing and renamed the State Administration Council (SAC) Office. SAC is t...

A commander of the militant Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), who was allegedly responsible for the killing of Squadron Leader Rizwan Rushdi of Bangladeshi military intelligence in November 2022, has been captured in Coxs Bazar.

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) spokesman Commander Khandaker Al Moin told The Irrawaddy that Hazeef Noor Mohammad, 29, of Maungdaw in Rakhine State, was directly involved in the killing of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence officer.

The RAB spokesman said more than 450 young people were also discovered being trained by ARSA.

Five other ARSA members Mohammad Hossain Johor, 30, Mohammad Faruk, 23, Monir Ahammod, 36, Noor Islam, 29, and Mohammad Yasin, 21 were reportedly detained on the border in connection with an arms case on Sunday.

Nearly 70 people, including ARSA commander-in-chief Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, were prosecuted for the abduction and killing of Rizwan Rushdi on the border in Bandarban last year during a military operation.

Official investigations were made into the failed operation, leading to the withdrawal of several commanders from operations in Coxs Bazar.

Hazeef Noor Mohammad had a crucial role in the death of the officer, the RAB spokesman said.

On Saturday, RAB said it arrested the commander in a Coxs Bazar raid, leading to the seizure of five more ARSA members in Tekhnafs forests.

RAB claimed to have seized two pistols, five other firearms and cash.

Commander Khandaker Al Moin said Noor Mohammad led around 30 ARSA personnel and was involved in killings, abductions, drug dealing and extortion in Kutupalongs refugee camps.

Noor joined ARSA in 2016 and is suspected of involvement in 15 murders, including the targeted killings of Rohingya leaders.

There are reports this month of fighting between ARSA and the Arakan Army in Myanmar and ARSA and the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation in Bangladesh.

No statement from ARSA was available.

ARSA first emerged in 2016 when it reportedly attacked three police outposts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships, followed by more attacks in 2017, allegedly killing about 12 officers. The attacks were used as an excuse by Myanmars military to drive more than 1 million Rohingya from Rakhine State into Bangladesh.

Myanmar military ruler Min Aung Hlaing threw a birthday party on Sunday for the one-year-old so-called white elephant calf he sees as natures confirmation of his greatness.

The birthday party was held at Uppatasanti Pagoda in Naypyitaw, where the elephant calf (which, in photos taken at the event, appears considerably darker than in earlier images) is kept. Min Aung Hlaing gave 5 million kyats (around US$1,700) as a birthday present for the elephant, to be used in raising it.

On July 31, his regime will issue a new banknote worth twice as much as the current highest denomination, reportedly to mark the completion of the colossal Maravijaya Buddha Image and the birthday of the white elephant.

At a ceremony at the pagoda some eight months ago, Min Aung Hlaing named the little pachyderm Rattha Nandaka, which means, in Pali, the precious white elephant beloved by the country will bring prosperity and happiness to the nation.

Critics point out that the name stands in stark contrast to the chaotic situation in the Southeast Asian nation since the coup.

While Myanmar people awaited with dread the introduction of the 20,000 kyat note, fearing it will exacerbate inflation in the country, Min Aung Hlaing, his cabinet members and military leaders were feeding bananas and sugarcane to Rattha Nandaka and other albino or unusually pale elephants.

The birthday boy, who was born in Thandwe in western Myanmars Rakhine State, was made to blow out candles on a 2-foot-square birthday cake, and release 1...

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.

...

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.

...

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.

...

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

...

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...