The NE command falls

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MYANMAR BORDER | FRIDAY AUGUST 9, 2024

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THE TOP STORIES IN MYANMAR THIS WEEK

The military launches a rocket from the North Eastern Command in the town of Lashio in northern Shan State on October 28, 2023. The command fell to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army over the weekend. (AFP)

These summaries are taken from our Daily Briefing, which updates our members on current affairs in Myanmar each weekday, and our Media Monitor, which provides translations of headlines and stories in Myanmar-language media. Get a free trial of the newsletters here.

Welcome back to Frontier Fridays. This week, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army seizes the North Eastern Command in northern Shan State’s Lashio town, the National Unity Government fires its representative in India amid allegations of sexual harassment, the Arakan Army is accused of massacring dozens of Rohingya in northern Rakhine State’s Maungdaw Township, and the Central Bank of Myanmar revokes the licenses of nearly 200 money changers.

The NE command falls

The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army made history over the weekend by capturing the Tatmadaw’s Northeastern Command in the town of Lashio in northern Shan State. Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing now has the dubious distinction of being the first commander-in-chief to lose a regional military command to an ethnic armed group, at least since the troubled early years after independence.

The MNDAA led the operation, supported by its Three Brotherhood Alliance partner, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, and smaller resistance groups. On Saturday, the MNDAA’s propaganda outlet, The Kokang, published photos of its troops posing in front of several signs in its headquarters, with a caption claiming it had been captured on Saturday morning. One of the two signs proclaims the army’s three national goals, one of which is “non-disintegration of the Union.”

The operation saw the MNDAA capture high-ranking prisoners of war. Khit Thit posted photos of former North Eastern Command leader Major General Soe Tint alongside Chief of Staff Brigadier General Thant Htin Soe and the head of Kyaukme Township’s Military Operations Command 1, Brigadier General Myo Min Htway. An MNDAA source told DVB they were held at the command’s headquarters between Wednesday and Sunday. A resistance source told BBC Burmese that the Brotherhood and allied fighters are still searching for Major General Soe Hlaing, who replaced Major General Soe Tint as head of the command late last month when the MNDAA was on the outskirts of Lashio.

NUG fires representative in India

The National Unity Government has dismissed its representative in India, Isaac Khen, on the grounds that he sexually harassed one of his aides. A statement released by the parallel government on Saturday said Isaac Khen was dismissed on Thursday after the Central Committee for the Prevention of Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse found that he had abused a female aide of Chin State who had worked with him for 10 months. Isaac Khen served as the minister of municipal affairs, electricity and industries of Chin State under the National League for Democracy government. After the military seized power in 2021, he joined the resistance and became the parallel government’s representative in India.

The unnamed woman made the allegations in a letter to the NUG dated May 14 that was leaked online on June 20, prompting calls from civil society groups for the parallel government to investigate the matter. It appears that the NUG did little to address the issue before the letter was leaked. The NUG eventually launched an investigation on June 25, at which time Isaac Khen was also suspended. The aide said in her letter that she had previously filed a complaint with the NUG’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March, but that Isaac Khen had only received a “verbal warning” a month later. She added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had dismissed her and a colleague on April 30 without providing an explanation. It is unclear whether she has since returned to work at the NUG.

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Massacre in Northern Rakhine

The Arakan Army is accused of carrying out an atrocity against Rohingya civilians in Maungdaw in northern Rakhine state on Monday. The group allegedly carried out a drone attack on Rohingya refugees – many of whom were women and children – as they tried to flee across the Naf River, which forms the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh, killing up to 200 people, a statement from the Women’s Peace Network said.

Footage has circulated online purportedly showing the desperate crowd before the attack and the gruesome aftermath, with dozens of bodies strewn across the marshy land, but the images appear to have been unverified. The refugees are believed to have fled the town of Maungdaw on Monday. The regime criticized the incident in state media on Wednesday, accusing the AA of firing heavy weapons and drones at civilians. “AA terrorists massacred Bangladeshis, including children, who had arranged for them to flee to other countries following (AA) attacks on a shrimp pond west of Phawyazi village in Maungdaw,” The Global New Light of Myanmar reported.

Meanwhile, the AA responded to the allegations in a statement issued on Wednesday evening, saying it was “saddened” to hear of the deaths of “many Muslims” and denying its involvement. It claimed it had learned through social media that Rohingya “reportedly died from artillery or small arms fire, bombings, drownings, airstrikes or massive explosions… causing great distress”. “We respectfully announce that these deaths did not occur in areas under our control and are not related to our organisation,” the group said.

CBM smackdown

Myanmar’s Central Bank has revoked the operating licenses of 194 money changers between Jan. 3 and Aug. 1, The Global New Light of Myanmar reported Monday. The licenses were revoked over an alleged failure to comply with CBM measures aimed at maintaining an artificially high currency peg for the kyat and preserving the regime’s dollar reserves. The crackdown on “illegal digital currency conversion” and hundi traders, who facilitate informal remittances from abroad, has led to at least 39 people being convicted under the Anti-Money Laundering Act and the Financial Institutions Act, GNLM said. Some 93 people accused of “conducting illegal business” have had their bank accounts and digital wallets frozen. Meanwhile, more than 100 companies have had their export licenses revoked over an alleged failure to convert dollar export earnings into kyat and deposit them in Myanmar banks, The Irrawaddy reported.

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