Latest news with #Sagaing
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
‘Everyone feels unsafe': Border panic as Indian forces kill Myanmar rebels
Flies hovered over the blackened and swollen bodies of men and boys, lying side-by-side on a piece of tarpaulin, in blood-soaked combat fatigues, amid preparations for a rushed cremation in the Tamu district of Myanmar's Sagaing region, bordering India. Quickly arranged wooden logs formed the base of the mass pyre, with several worn-out rubber tyres burning alongside to sustain the fire, the orange and green wreaths just out of reach of the flames. Among the 10 members of the Pa Ka Pha (PKP), part of the larger People's Defence Forces (PDF), killed by the Indian Army on May 14, three were teenagers. The PKP comes under the command of the National Unity Government (NUG), Myanmar's government-in-exile, comprising lawmakers removed in the 2021 coup, including legislators from Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party. It mostly assists the PDF – a network of civilian militia groups against the military government – which serves, in effect, as the NUG's army. The Indian Army said that on May 14, a battalion of the country's Assam Rifles (AR) paramilitary force patrolling a border post in the northeast Indian state of Manipur, killed 10 men armed with 'war-like stores' who were 'suspected to be involved in cross-border insurgent activities'. The battalion, the Indian Army said, was 'acting on specific intelligence'. The Indian soldiers were stationed at the border in Chandel, a district contiguous with Tamu on the Myanmar side of the frontier. Manipur has been torn by a civil war between ethnic groups for the past two years, and Indian authorities have often accused migrants from Myanmar of stoking those tensions. However, disputing the Indian version of the May 14 events, the exiled NUG said its cadres were 'not killed in an armed encounter within Indian territory'. Instead, it said in a statement, they were 'captured, tortured and summarily executed by' Indian Army personnel. For nearly five years since the coup, political analysts and conflict observers say that resistance groups operating in Myanmar, along the 1,600km-long (994 miles) border with India, have shared an understanding with Indian forces, under which both sides effectively minded their own business. That has now changed with the killings in Tamu, sending shockwaves through the exiled NUG, dozens of rebel armed groups and thousands of refugees who fled the war in Myanmar to find shelter in northeastern Indian states. They now fear a spillover along the wider frontier. 'Fighters are in panic, but the refugees are more worried – they all feel unsafe now,' said Thida*, who works with the Tamu Pa Ah Pha, or the People's Administration Team, and organised the rebels' funeral on May 16. She requested to be identified by a pseudonym. Meanwhile, New Delhi has moved over the past year to fence the international border with Myanmar, dividing transnational ethnic communities who have enjoyed open-border movement for generations, before India and Myanmar gained freedom from British rule in the late 1940s. 'We felt safe [with India in our neighbourhood],' said Thida. 'But after this incident, we have become very worried, you know, that similar things may follow up from the Indian forces.' 'This never happened in four years [since the armed uprising against the coup], but now, it has happened,' she told Al Jazeera. 'So, once there is a first time, there could be a second or a third time, too. That is the biggest worry.' On May 12, the 10 cadres of the PKP arrived at their newly established camp in Tamu after their earlier position was exposed to the Myanmar military. A senior NUG official and two locals based in Tamu independently told Al Jazeera that they had alerted the Indian Army of their presence in advance. 'The AR personnel visited the new campsite [on May 12],' claimed Thida. 'They were informed of our every step.' What followed over the next four days could not be verified independently, with conflicting versions emerging from Indian officials and the NUG. There are also contradictions in the narratives put out by Indian officials. On May 14, the Indian Army's eastern command claimed that its troops acted on 'intelligence', but 'were fired upon by suspected cadres', and killed 10 cadres in a gunfight in the New Samtal area of the Chandel district. Two days later, on May 16, a spokesperson for India's Ministry of Defence said that 'a patrol of Assam Rifles' was fired upon. In retaliation, they killed '10 individuals, wearing camouflage fatigues', and recovered seven AK-47 rifles as well as a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Five days later, on May 21, the Defence Ministry identified the killed men as cadres of the PKP. The ministry spokesperson further noted that 'a patrol out to sanitise the area, where fence construction is under way along the [border], came under intense automatic fire', with the intent 'to cause severe harm to construction workers or troops of Assam Rifles to deter the fencing work'. Speaking with Al Jazeera, a retired Indian government official, who has advised New Delhi on its Myanmar policy for a decade, pointed out the dissonance in the Indian versions: Did Indian soldiers respond proactively to intelligence alerts, or were they reacting to an attack from the rebels from Myanmar? 'It is difficult to make sense of these killings. This is something that has happened against the run of play,' the retired official, who requested anonymity to speak, said. The contradictions, he said, suggested that 'a mistake happened, perhaps in the fog of war'. 'It cannot be both a proactive operation and retaliation.' Al Jazeera requested comments from the Indian Army on questions around the operation, first on May 26, and then again on May 30, but has yet to receive a response. Thura, an officer with the PDF in Sagaing, the northwest Myanmar region where Tamu is too, said, 'The [PKP cadres] are not combat trained, or even armed enough to imagine taking on a professional army'. When they were informed by the Indian Army of the deaths on May 16, local Tamu authorities rushed to the Indian side. 'Assam Rifles had already prepared a docket of documents,' said a Tamu official, who was coordinating the bodies' handover, and requested anonymity. 'We were forced to sign the false documents, or they threatened not to give the corpses of martyrs.' Al Jazeera has reviewed three documents from the docket, which imply consent to the border fencing and underline that the PDF cadres were killed in a gunfight in Indian territory. Thida, from the Tamu's People's Administration Team, and NUG officials, told Al Jazeera that they have repeatedly asked Indian officials to reconsider the border fencing. 'For the last month, we have been requesting the Indian Army to speak with our ministry [referring to the exiled NUG] and have a meeting. Until then, stop the border fencing process,' she said. Bewildered by the killings, Thida said, 'It is easy to take advantage while our country is in such a crisis. And, to be honest, we cannot do anything about it. We are the rebels in our own country — how can we pick fights with the large Indian Army?' Above all, Thida said she was heartbroken. 'The state of corpses was horrific. Insects were growing inside the body,' she recalled. 'If nothing, Indian forces should have respect for our dead.' Angshuman Choudhury, a researcher focused on Myanmar and northeast India, said that conflict observers 'are befuddled by these killings in Tamu'. 'It is counterintuitive and should not have happened by any measure,' he said. The main point of dispute, the border fencing, is an age-old issue, noted Choudhary. 'It has always caused friction along the border. And very violent fiction in the sense of intense territorial misunderstandings from groups on either side,' he said. When New Delhi first moved last year to end the free movement regime, which allows cross-border movement to inhabitants, Indigenous communities across India's northeastern states of Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh were left stunned. Members of these communities live on both sides of the border with Myanmar – and have for centuries. Political analysts and academics note that the border communities on either side reconciled with the idea of India and Myanmar because of the freedom to travel back and forth. Erecting physical infrastructure triggers a kind of anxiety in these transnational communities that demarcation on maps does not, argued Choudhary. 'By fencing, India is creating a completely new form of anxieties that did not even exist in the 1940s, the immediate post-colonial period,' Choudhary said. 'It is going to create absolutely unnecessary forms of instability, ugliness, and widen the existing fault lines.' Last year, the Indian home minister, Amit Shah, said that border fencing would ensure India's 'internal security' and 'maintain the demographic structure' of the regions bordering Myanmar, in a move widely seen as a response to the conflict in Manipur. Since May 2023, ongoing ethnic violence between the Meitei majority and the Kuki and Naga minority communities has killed more than 250 people and displaced thousands. The state administration has faced allegations of exacerbating the unrest to strengthen its support among the Meitei population, which the government has denied. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and the Manipur state government, also under the BJP, have blamed the crisis in Manipur in part on undocumented migrants from Myanmar, whom they accuse of deepening ethnic tensions. Now, with the killings in Tamu, Choudhary said that Indian security forces had a new frontier of discontent, along a border where numerous armed groups opposed to Myanmar's ruling military have operated — until now, in relative peace with Indian troops. The deaths, he said, could change the rules of engagement between Indian forces and those groups. 'Remember, other rebel groups [in Myanmar] are also watching this closely,' he said. 'These issues can spiral quickly.'
NHK
3 days ago
- General
- NHK
Myanmar's military extends ceasefire until June 30
Myanmar's ruling military has extended a ceasefire with pro-democracy forces until June 30. The extension was announced on Saturday. The military and pro-democracy forces separately declared a temporary ceasefire after a major earthquake struck central Myanmar in March. The aim was to prioritize relief efforts. Fighting has continued since the military coup in 2021. The military says March's quake has left more than 3,700 people dead and over 5,000 injured. It also says it decided on the latest extension to speed up the reconstruction and rehabilitation of affected areas. But a source from the pro-democracy camp told NHK that the military's ceasefire declaration is false and unacceptable, as the military is attacking schools, hospitals and other places where people gather. In May, the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations issued a statement calling for the extension and expansion of the ceasefire in Myanmar. But it remains uncertain whether the ceasefire will hold, as fighting appears to be ongoing. Local media reported last month that a military airstrike on a school in the northwestern region of Sagaing killed more than 20 children.
NHK
6 days ago
- General
- NHK
UNICEF: Millions of children at grave risk in Myanmar
UNICEF is calling for a more urgent response to the massive earthquake in Myanmar two months ago. Officials say more than 6 million people desperately need life-saving assistance. The figure includes 2 million children. The country's junta says the disaster killed more than 3,700 people and injured over 5,000. Many survivors in Sagaing near the epicenter are still living in tents and makeshift shelters. Temples are caring for youngsters who lost their parents and homes. But the stress is taking a severe mental toll. The UN children's agency is warning of depression and PTSD. UNICEF Regional Chief of Emergency Trevor Clark suggested there are difficulties accessing high numbers of children in need of mental health support. He said: "We, based on humanitarian principles, will prioritize where the most vulnerable children are, and we'll get to them." He also said the international community should be providing long-term support as the dire situation in Myanmar drags on.
NHK
7 days ago
- General
- NHK
Myanmar: Fighting delays flow of vital aid for quake survivors
Many people in central Myanmar are struggling to survive following a devastating earthquake on March 28. Myanmar's military junta has put the death toll from the magnitude 7.7 quake at almost 3,800. But the United Nations says the real figure is likely much higher, and that the health risks for survivors have increased since the early arrival of monsoon season. The ongoing conflict between the military junta and pro-democracy forces has reduced the flow of vital aid to a mere trickle, as airstrikes continue despite the announcement of a ceasefire. International journalists seeking to get a clear picture of the situation on the ground are not allowed to enter the affected areas ― but NHK World is communicating regularly with residents. Myanmar's independent media reported that the military carried out an airstrike on a school on May 12, killing more than 20 children and two teachers. The attack took place in Sagaing Township, in the country's northwest. The school was managed by the National Unity Government, or NUG, which was formed by the ousted lawmakers in the military coup. The junta denies responsibility, claiming that "illegal anti-government media outlets have spread false news" through the state-run media outlets. A school in Sagaing Township lies in ruins after an airstrike by the junta. Picture supplied by an eyewitness. The assault came about despite a second truce announced by the junta between May 6 and 31, following a separate ceasefire announced in April. A statement from the military regime claims the latest period will make it possible "to continue implementing reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the earthquake-affected areas with momentum." The junta continues to suffer territorial losses, controlling a mere 32 percent of the country, according to a recent survey by the NUG. In the air, however, its power remains almost entirely unchallenged, an advantage it is exploiting with a campaign of airstrikes. One local independent media outlet, Democratic Voice of Burma, reports the military launched more than 700 attacks by air and artillery strikes from the day of the quake through May 22. Military strikes across the country after the earthquake: March 28 – May 20. Two videos supplied to NHK by a journalist in Mandalay Region after the earthquake show military aircraft bombing local villages. Weapons analyst Leone Hadavi from the international investigative organization Myanmar Witness has identified one as an FTC-2000 and the other a K-8 ― both Chinese-manufactured models, which have recently been refurbished by the Myanmar Air Force. Chinese-made military aircraft filmed by a local independent journalist in mid-April Living among the rubble The devastating earthquakes has left millions of people struggling to cope with the aftermath. NHK has been communicating with a male resident of Sagaing Township in the epicenter since the earthquake happened. The man, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal by the military, used to run a small business from his house, but that was all destroyed in the quake. "All my family members survived, but seven employees in a building near the house were buried," he recounted in mid-April. He said the smell of corpses was everywhere, but eventually disappeared two weeks after the earthquake. A male resident in Sagaing Township Videos and photos that he sent to NHK World show him and his neighbors living in tents with mosquito nets, surrounded by rubble. Residents buy water-tanks, sharing water with each other. Electricity supplies are unstable, so people plug their chargers into a generator to use smartphones, which is a lifeline. The man said, "People are sleeping outside because there are still tremors every day." People sleep on temporary beds covered by mosquito nets in the luggage space of the car. Residents shares water, using water tanks. "We've had massive destruction in our town, but only about 10 percent of the demolition has taken place. There are not enough people or supplies," he said. A local NGO provided mosquito nets, mats and tents, and the World Food Programme delivered enough rice, oil and beans for two weeks. However, as there were no tools for cooking, they needed to rely on funds donated by other overseas supporters to buy kitchenware and water pumps. Kitchenware is distributed to earthquake survivors. "We're being ignored," he said. "Pro-democracy forces appear to be in this region, so the military won't do anything for us. All the military does is launch airstrikes and kill people. I don't know what's going to happen ― or where to make a start." At the beginning of May, the man provided an update. He said that rice provided as food aid had already gone, and when it was available at market, its cost was up by 25 percent, compared with before the earthquake. Gasoline prices have doubled ― but with so few gas stations left open people must travel to Mandalay to fill up. Taken away and forced to fight At the end of April, a female resident in the same town reported her nephew in his 20s was taken away by soldiers to the military camp under its forcible conscription push. A so-called lottery system to sign up men aged 18 and older has Myanmar youths facing a quandary: give in to the junta, flee, or fight back. The military continues to recruit even after the quake. "A friend of my nephew confirmed to me by phone that he had been drafted," says the woman. "He was delivering gasoline by motorbike, but was suddenly taken by the military on a bridge." A female resident of Sagaing Township Continuing airstrikes With aid struggling to reach the areas most in need, already traumatized civilians are increasingly desperate for help. In mid-April, NHK reached out to a woman who lives a few hours' drive north of the epicenter in the Mandalay Region says military jets launched airstrikes on her area on April 13. A female resident in the Mandalay region "We heard a fighter jet while we listened online to sutras," she says. She took shelter with her husband and her elder sister, who has been suffering from the effects of a stroke for years. "I wrapped my sister in a thick quilt, and my husband and I got under the bed. We heard bombing to the north, and then a fighter overhead. A bomb hit the house. Another landed outside." The woman salvaging household items from a destroyed house. The woman is a tailor. One thing she salvaged is a sewing machine. But the foot pedal is broken. "I brought it because I thought I could make a living here if I could fix it," she says. However, it is obvious that she cannot have it her way. The woman showed NHK her broken sewing machine. The woman says she, her spouse and her sister now live with relatives in another village. Her husband used to work in construction, but is unable to continue because he lost his hearing in the airstrike. So his wife is the only one who can support the family. "I wish the international community would help us. It's not just us who are struggling. Everyone in this village is scared. We don't know when we might die." Humanitarian crisis deepens Two months have passed since the devastating earthquakes, leaving millions of people struggling to cope. Still, aftershocks continue. The NUG announced on May 17 that an earthquake with a Richter scale 5.7 magnitude shook the Mandalay Region, with further shakes expected. According to the UN, nearly 509,400 people were still urgently in need of food assistance as of May 17. People across Myanmar are still desperately in need of aid. Page 2
South China Morning Post
27-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
‘Concerned' Asean leaders fail to issue fresh condemnation of Myanmar's junta
Southeast Asian leaders have said they are 'deeply concerned' about the violence and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Myanmar, in a statement at the end of the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur, but significantly held back from further action against a junta which continues to kill civilians four years after it seized power. Advertisement The junta has continued deadly air strikes against civilian areas held by ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy forces, in the weeks following a devastating earthquake in Sagaing in March that killed more than 3,700, with over 5,100 people injured and about 115 missing according to the UN. That is despite junta chief Min Aung Hlaing calling a ceasefire – to match several rebel groups – as the country struggles with the immense needs of hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes. This month the junta leader – ostracised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and banned from its meetings – travelled to Moscow to attend Russia's Victory Day parade on May 9, standing alongside President Vladimir Putin, and met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the event. The meetings were interpreted as signs of support for a junta which has lost control of much of the country. Russia's President Vladimir Putin greets Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing before the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9. Photo: Pool/AFP In a joint statement late on Tuesday, the leaders of the 10 Southeast Asian nations reaffirmed the bloc's backing of a so-called five-point consensus as a road map for resolving Myanmar's crisis.
