Latest news with #DevjyotGhoshal
The Star
31-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Myanmar forms commission led by junta chief to hold elections, state media says
(Reuters) -Myanmar's ruling junta announced the formation of a 11-member commission led by military chief Min Aung Hlaing to hold an election in the war-torn country, state media reported on Thursday. The junta did not announce a date for the election and Min Aung Hlaing will continue to effectively remain in charge of the country, in his capacity as the interim president who will oversee the vote, MRTV reported. The proposed election, which Min Aung Hlaing on Wednesday confirmed would take place in December, will be the first national vote since a 2021 coup sparked a civil war and plunged the Southeast Asian nation into chaos. Min Aung Hlaing will remain commander in chief of the armed forces while serving as interim president. (Reporting Reuters staff, Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by David Stanway, Martin Petty)
The Star
28-07-2025
- The Star
At least six killed in shooting incident in Bangkok
BANGKOK (Reuters) -At least six people were killed at a market in a shooting incident in the Thai capital Bangkok on Monday, a police official said, adding that the attacker had also taken his own life. (Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by David Stanway)
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why China's ultimatum to Myanmar rebels threatens global supply of heavy rare earths
By Naw Betty Han, Devjyot Ghoshal, Shoon Naing and Poppy McPherson (Reuters) -The global supply of heavy rare earths hinges in part on the outcome of a months-long battle between a rebel army and the Chinese-backed military junta in the hills of northern Myanmar. The Kachin Independence Army since December has been battling the junta over the town of Bhamo, less than 100 km (62 miles) from the Chinese border, as part of the civil war that erupted after the military's 2021 coup. Nearly half the world's supply of heavy rare earths is extracted from mines in Kachin state, including those north of Bhamo, a strategically-vital garrison town. They are then shipped to China for processing into magnets that power electronic vehicles and wind turbines. China, which has a near-monopoly over the processing of heavy rare earths, has threatened to halt buying the minerals mined in KIA-controlled territory unless the militia stops trying to seize full control of Bhamo, according to three people familiar with the matter. The ultimatum issued by Chinese officials to the KIA in a meeting earlier this year, which is reported by Reuters for the first time, underscores how Beijing is wielding its control of the minerals to further its geopolitical aims. One of the people, a KIA official, said the Chinese demand was made in May, without detailing where the discussions took place. Another person, a KIA commander, said Beijing was represented by foreign ministry officials at the talks. Reuters could not determine whether China had carried out its threat. Fighting in the region has restricted mining operations and rare-earth exports from Myanmar have plunged this year. China spooked global supply chains this spring when it restricted exports of the minerals in retaliation against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. It is now using its dominance to shore up Myanmar's beleaguered junta, which China sees as a guarantor of its economic interests in its backyard. China's foreign ministry said in response to Reuters' questions that it was not aware of the specifics of deliberations with the KIA. "An early ceasefire and peace talks between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army are in the common interests of China and Myanmar as well as their people," a ministry spokesperson said. A senior KIA general did not respond to a request for comment. The KIA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Beijing also offered a carrot: greater cross-border trade with KIA-controlled territories if the militia abandoned efforts to seize Bhamo, a logistics hub for the junta that's home to some 166,000 people. "And if we did not accept, they would block exports from Kachin State, including rare-earth minerals," said the official, who did not elaborate on the consequences of an economic blockade. Beijing is not seeking to resolve the wider civil war but it wants fighting to subside in order to advance its economic interests, said David Mathieson, an independent Myanmar-focused analyst. "China's pressure is a more general approach to calming down the conflict." DEFYING CHINA The battle for Bhamo began soon after the KIA wrested control of the main rare-earths belt in Kachin last October. After its takeover, the KIA raised taxes on miners and throttled production of dysprosium and terbium, sending prices of the latter skyrocketing. Supply has been squeezed, with Beijing importing 12,944 metric tons of rare-earth oxides and metals from Myanmar in the first five months of 2025, according to Chinese customs data. That is down half from the same period last year, though exports rose more than 20% between April and May. The KIA, which analysts estimate has over 15,000 personnel, was founded in 1961 to fight for the autonomy of Myanmar's Kachin minority. Battle-hardened through decades of combat and funded by a combination of local taxation and natural resources, it is among the strongest of Myanmar's rebel groups. The militia is confident of its ability to seize Bhamo and believes Beijing won't ultimately carry out its threat to stop exports due to its thirst for the minerals, two of the people said. Myanmar has been in crisis since the military overthrew a democratically-elected government in 2021, violently quashing protests and sparking a nationwide armed rebellion. Swathes of territory were subsequently seized by anti-junta forces, but the rebels have come under Chinese pressure to make concessions to the military. Beijing has also sent jets and drones to the junta, which is increasingly reliant on airpower, according to the U.S.-based Stimson Centre think-tank. China, which has major investments in Myanmar, last year brokered a ceasefire for the junta to return to Lashio, a northeastern town housing a regional military command. More than 200 km to the north, some 5,000 KIA and allied personnel have been involved in the offensive for Bhamo, according to a KIA commander with direct knowledge of the fighting. Losing Bhamo would cut off the military's land and river access to parts of Kachin and neighbouring region, isolating its troops housed at military bases there and weakening its control over northern trade routes, according to Maj. Naung Yoe, who defected from the junta after the coup. The junta spokesperson's office told Reuters that China may have held talks with the KIA, but it did not respond to a question about whether it had asked Beijing to threaten a blockade. "China may have been exerted pressure and offered incentives to the KIA," it said in a statement. Beijing first advised the rebels to pull back from Bhamo during negotiations in early December, according to the KIA official. Instead of withdrawing from Bhamo after those talks, the KIA doubled down, according to the commander and the official. The International Institute for Strategic Studies think-tank said in a May briefing that the battle for Bhamo had cost the KIA significant resources and hundreds of casualties. Beijing became more confrontational during further discussions that took place in spring, when its representatives threatened to stop rare-earth purchases, the official said. A disruption in the movement of heavy rare earths from Kachin could lead to a deficit in the global market by the end of the year, said Neha Mukherjee of U.K.-based consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. Supplies of the critical minerals outside China were already constrained, she said: "In the short term, during the brief disruption period, prices outside of China could shoot up higher." BATTLE FOR BHAMO The KIA has pushed junta troops into a handful of isolated pockets, according to the commander. But the junta retains air superiority and has devastated large parts of Bhamo with relentless airstrikes, according to the KIA official, the commander and a former resident of the town. The junta spokesperson's office said it was permitted to strike such sites because the KIA had been using them for military purposes, though it did not provide evidence. Nathan Ruser, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think-tank who has reviewed satellite imagery of Bhamo, said much of the damage across the town appeared to be from airstrikes. Airstrikes have killed civilians including children and destroyed schools and places of worship, according to Khon Ja, a Kachin activist from Bhamo who said her home had been bombed. "I don't know for how long that the revolutionary groups will be able to resist Chinese pressure," she said, adding that existing border restrictions had led to shortages of petrol and medicine in Kachin. Despite the obstacles, KIA leaders believe capturing Bhamo would shift momentum in their favour and strengthen public support. If the ethnic army were to take control of the entire state, then Beijing would have no option but to negotiate and sideline the junta, the commander and the official said. "China, which needs rare earths, can only tolerate this for a limited time," the commander said. (Additional reporting by Liz Lee and Chen Xiuhao in Beijing; Editing by Katerina Ang)
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Myanmar junta defies quake ceasefire to continue deadly attacks, data shows
By Devjyot Ghoshal, Poppy McPherson and Pasit Kongkunakornkul BANGKOK (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta has kept up a deadly military campaign, including airstrikes and artillery assaults, despite announcing a ceasefire after a major earthquake killed thousands in March, according to the United Nations and data from a crisis monitor. The March 28 quake, the worst natural disaster to hit the impoverished nation in decades, triggered a multi-national relief effort to support hundreds of thousands already ravaged by conflict and repeated international calls to halt the fighting. On April 2, following similar moves by opposition armed groups, Myanmar's military announced a 20-day ceasefire to support humanitarian relief. On Tuesday it said the temporary cessation had been extended until April 30 after rare high-level talks led by Malaysia's premier. But unreported figures from the United Nations show that the fighting has continued unabated and a Reuters analysis of data provided by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project found the frequency of junta aerial attacks has increased since the ceasefire announcement, compared to the six months prior. A junta spokesman did not respond to multiple calls from Reuters seeking comment. Between March 28 and April 24, the military launched at least 207 attacks, including 140 airstrikes and 24 artillery barrages, according to data from the UN Human Rights Office, based on reports it had received. More than 172 attacks have occurred since the ceasefire, 73 of them in areas devastated by the earthquake. "It's business as usual," said James Rodehaver, Myanmar head for the United Nations Office on Human Rights. "The have involved stopping all military activity and repurposing your military to support the humanitarian response and that has not happened." Myanmar has been in crisis since the military seized power in February 2021, toppling the elected government of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. A brutal junta crackdown on the opposition ignited a spiralling civil war, including in the previously peaceful central heartlands where protesters took up arms. CIVILIAN TARGETS Two weeks into the ceasefire, junta aircraft swooped over South Kan Ma Yaik village in southeastern Karen state on April 16, during Burmese new year celebrations, and dropped bombs that killed a pregnant woman and her unborn baby to the north of the settlement, an eyewitness told Reuters. "The first bomb exploded near her house. Then she braced her children for a second bomb and shrapnel hit her body," said the witness, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution. "All the children were bleeding all over." Reuters could not independently verify the witnesses' account but the ACLED data contains an entry for a junta attack on the village on April 16, including one fatality. In the six months before April 2, the junta every day conducted an average of 7.6 attacks using aircraft or drones that killed more than five people daily, including civilians, according to data provided by ACLED. Between April 2 and April 18, the military carried out an average of 9.7 aircraft or drone attacks every day, leaving more than six people dead each day, since the ceasefire was announced, ACLED data shows. In all, 105 people were killed by junta aerial attacks during this period. The data showed opposition groups only conducted three aerial attacks during the ceasefire, between April 2-18. Anti-junta groups in the country lack any conventional air force and rely on drones. In contrast, the Myanmar junta's air force includes Chinese and Russian-made fighter and ground attack aircraft, Russian attack helicopters and some heavy unmanned aerial vehicles, according to an International Institute for Strategic Studies report last year. The junta's aerial attacks since the quake have been in the Sagaing region and northern Shan state, where it is attempting to regain strategic positions, as well as in Kachin and Rakhine states, said ACLED Senior Analyst Su Mon. "The military is still conducting aerial strikes that target civilian populations," she said. In its ceasefire announcements, on April 2 and April 22, the junta said that it would retaliate against a range of actions by rebels, including recruitment and territorial expansion. In a few instances, the data indicated that the military was attacked by armed groups prior to launching an airstrike, the U.N's Rodehaver said. Referring to the junta, he said, "Whenever you get attacked by... small arms fire, your response is to launch airstrikes on an area and you end up killing a dozen people who were not involved in the fighting at all. Is that a ceasefire?"
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Myanmar junta chief joins Bangkok regional summit as earthquake toll tops 3,100
By Devjyot Ghoshal and Panu Wongcha-um BANGKOK (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta leader attended a regional summit in Bangkok on Friday, a week after a massive earthquake devastated parts of the impoverished war-torn country, killing more than 3,100, and spurring an appeal for help by the United Nations chief. Shunned by most world leaders since leading a 2021 coup that overthrew an elected government, Min Aung Hlaing's rare trip exploits a window opened by the earthquake to ramp up diplomacy at events such as the BIMSTEC summit in the Thai capital. On the sidelines, Min Aung Hlaing had two-way meetings with Thai premier Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Amid the quake recovery effort, the junta chief will talk about "the potential for cooperation ... to carry out rescue, relief and rehabilitation," the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. The death toll from Friday's earthquake of magnitude 7.7, one of the strongest to hit the Southeast Asian nation in a century, climbed to 3,145, with more than 4,500 injured and more than 200 missing, the ruling junta said. "The earthquake has supercharged the suffering, with the monsoon season just around the corner," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters on Thursday, referring to civil strife unleashed by the coup. "I appeal for every effort to transform this tragic moment into an opportunity for the people of Myanmar." United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher is set to arrive in Myanmar on Friday, followed by a visit by Julie Bishop, the United Nations' special envoy for the country. RARE INTERNATIONAL TRIP Min Aung Hlaing, who led an entourage of Myanmar officials, also met Nepal's prime minister on Thursday, state media said, ahead of the summit focused on technical and economic matters. He sat between the prime ministers of Bhutan and Sri Lanka at the head table during Thursday's dinner with heads of BIMSTEC nations, Thai government photographs show. In a post on X after meeting Min Aung Hlaing, India's Modi said cooperation on connectivity, capacity building and infrastructure development featured in their discussions. With the Thai prime minister, the junta leader discussed disaster prevention, transnational crime and repatriatiion of those pulled out of scam centres, Thai officials said. The summit is part of BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, which groups Thailand, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. Even before the quake, millions had suffered in Myanmar's widening civil war, triggered by the coup that ousted the government of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. It has decimated the mainly agrarian economy, driven more than 3.5 million people from their homes and crippled essential services such as healthcare. Myanmar's neighbours, such as China, India and Southeast Asian nations are among the countries that dispatched relief supplies and rescuers to aid the recovery effort in quake-hit areas home to about 28 million people. Extreme heat and forecast heavy rain could cause disease outbreaks among earthquake survivors camping in the open, as the risk of cholera grows in such areas, namely Mandalay, Sagaing and the capital of Naypyitaw. "Response efforts still face significant logistical challenges ... hampering the relief response," the World Food Programme said on Thursday. Hurdles range from debris and damaged roads and facilities to telecoms disruption, it said. This week the junta called a temporary ceasefire from Wednesday to April 22 in operations against armed opponents, reflecting moves by a major rebel alliance and Myanmar's shadow government that groups parts of the previous administration.
