Yesterday evening around 6:30pm, a van carrying five passengers on its way to Thantlang Town, Chin State was attacked by junta’s force where a person was killed on the spot and another was injured. The man who passed away was identified as U Ral Tu, a community leader and the wounded person was a former member of Unity Solidarity Development Party (USDP). Thantlang was deserted by its major population following the massive fire torched on the city by regime’s soldiers about two weeks ago. The reason of the above victims returning home was unknown but sadly one of them never made it back.
A military truck was detonated in Yuzana Garden City, Yangon last night around 9:30pm, killing at least two soldiers on board. Consequently, junta’s forces beat and abducted about twenty youths from two social welfare organizations in the neighborhood. The incident has sparked a debate since the bombs were set up by different group of people, most likely People Defense Force (PDF) members and those volunteers were abducted for no reason. Soon, people may act hostile towards the resistance fighters as they worry junta might target them for the acts of PDF members. A similar case took place in Mandalay about two weeks ago when a local volunteer group clashed with some youths that led to the latter being abducted. As junta is getting weaker, it’s using the strategy of turning people against their own and it’s the time to be stronger and more united than ever.
In Pakkoku City of Magway Region, junta’s forces warned the residents not to go out between 10am to 5pm today, or else they would be shot. A local source told DVB that the reason of sudden restriction may be due to the bomb attack on the police car on September 28 that killed two policemen on the spot. Since yesterday, all roads entering and exiting the Pakkoku City have been blocked too.
One odd news came in from Ayeyarwaddy Region that U Moe Ko Ko Lwin, the vice officer of the regional administration council was abducted for sharing a post on his Facebook page that criticized the coup leader Min Aung Hlaing. He was simply asked to come in to the office by his supervisor and when he did, ten junta’s soldiers already there detained him according to DVB. The incident shows that junta spares no one when practicing freedom of speech.
However, just because one regime’s lackey badmouths their master doesn’t mean people are suddenly switching onto our side. We understand that many pro-military people are not happy with Min Aung Hlaing’s management because they find him too soft as he does not conduct a full-blown military operation throughout the country to end the protests once and for all. Certain people want another coup inside the military to overthrow Min Aung Hlaing and rule the country with even harder oppression. Hence, it’s not all good news when there is division inside the army because there are more bad people who wish worse things happen to the already failed country. It also means that this does not end with Min Aung Hlaing, this ends when the whole military institution is properly restructured.
In Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region, about 165 people including two monks and one infant have been detained between September 3 to September 29, according to Mizzima. The detainee list also includes a five-year-old, a seven-year-old and a twelve-year-old, all of whom have been kept as hostages for their fathers who are on the run. The monks have been charged with helping protesters by hiding posters and signboards. Moreover, five people died in Myingyan this month due to the junta’s atrocities, three of them were shot and killed on the spot while two passed away during interrogation.
Today, junta’s infamous spokesperson Zaw Min Tun held another press conference. As usual, his speeches and answers served as cheap thrills among social media users. Some of them stood out when he said State Administration Council (SAC) is accelerating peace process by meeting and discussing with ethnic armed organizations, SAC will solve Kyat depreciation, high gas price and unstable gold market with accountability although such issues are caused by the previous government, etc. He also fired warning shots to National Unity Government (NUG) if they are confident that they will win this, they should step forward themselves, instead of sending out the kids. We wonder if Zaw Min Tun will ever understand the meanings of “legitimacy” and “elected”.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in a report to the UN General Assembly circulated Wednesday that, “It is urgent that regional and international countries help put Myanmar back on the path to democratic reform.” Guterres also said, “The international and regional effort must be accompanied by the immediate release of Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and other government officials as well as immediate humanitarian access and aid, especially to vulnerable communities, including some 600,000 Rohingya Muslims still in northern Rakhine state.” Hopefully, this urgent call may fasten the visa process for ASEAN special envoy Erywan Yusof who still finds it difficult to enter the country, let alone solve the whole thing. Regardless, we won’t gamble the future of our country on his visit. We will win this on our own terms.
