Twelve civilians killed by airstrikes in Mandalay Region
Residents of Mogok, Natogyi, and Thabeikkyin townships in Mandalay Region told DVB that at least 12 civilians were killed and more than 10 others were injured by airstrikes since Sunday. Natogyi, Mogok, and Thabeikkyin are located 63 miles (101 km) south, 124 miles (200 km) northeast, and 90 miles (144 km) north of the region’s capital Mandalay. The three towns lie 50-110 miles (80–177 km) apart from one another.
Three civilians from Mogok and five from Thabeikkyin were killed on Tuesday, while at least four were killed and five houses were destroyed by airstrikes in Natogyi since Sunday. Aid workers from Natogyi told DVB that tens of thousands of civilians have fled their homes due to a regime counteroffensive launched against the People’s Defence Force (PDF) in late September.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) seized Mogok in July 2024, and the PDF seized Natogyi the following month. Thabeikkyin was seized by the PDF in August 2024 but was recaptured by regime forces on July 23. The regime has announced that elections scheduled to begin on Dec. 28–with polls to continue into January 2026–will not be held in Mandalay’s Natogyi, Singu, and Mogok townships.
Warning in Sagaing Region against holding public events
The People’s Administration Team (PAT) in Depayin Township of Sagaing Region announced that public performances should not be included at donation ceremonies and festivals as it might disturb air defense security measures. Depayin is located 40 miles (64 km) north of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa. The town is partly controlled by the PDF.
“There were three airstrikes in October. To be able to safeguard them from airstrikes, we must warn them not to gather in large groups, like a wedding ceremony and not to include entertainment,” a PAT spokesperson told DVB. Residents in Sagaing Region claimed that the regime has carried out daily airstrikes on resistance-controlled areas so far this month.
A PDF member told DVB that noise from public events and festivals disturb its air defense. At least 30 civilians, including an undisclosed number of children, were killed and over 60 others were injured by motorized paraglider attacks on Sagaing’s Chaung-U Township on Oct. 6, while residents were attending a lighting festival for the Full Moon Day of Thadingyut. The U.N. condemned the attack on civilians.
Ko Ko Gyi, the People’s Party founder and chairperson, at a meeting with party’s members in Mandalay Region on Sept. 6. (Credit: People’s Party)
People’s Party’s Ko Ko Gyi to contest regime elections in Yangon
Ko Ko Gyi, the founder and chairperson of the People’s Party, announced that he will run as a candidate in Lanmadaw Township of Yangon Region for the Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house of parliament, in the regime elections scheduled to begin on Dec. 28. The Union Election Commission (UEC) published a list of candidates eligible to contest the polls on Oct. 19.
Ko Ko Gyi, the former leader of the 88 Generation Students, told DVB that his People’s Party will field 512 candidates nationwide. Founded in 2018, the People’s Party is one of six registered with the UEC to run a national campaign. Ko Ko Gyi ran as a candidate in Yangon’s South Okkalapa Township in 2020, but lost with only 2.74 percent of the vote. His People’s Party didn’t win any seats in parliament.
The 2020 election results were overturned by the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. The National League for Democracy (NLD) government was ousted and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were jailed. Ko Ko Gyi submitted his name to the NLD in the 2015 elections, but he was excluded from its list of candidates. He has neither condemned the 2021 coup nor the detention of Burma’s democratically-elected leaders.
News by Region
NAYPYIDAW—The UEC ordered all political party candidates to submit campaign expenses within 30 days after being elected, or risk disqualification, during a meeting in Naypyidaw on Oct. 18. Campaign expenses were capped at 10 and 15 million MMK ($2,500-3,750 USD) in the 2015 and 2020 elections.
A candidate contesting for a seat in lower house, upper house, or state and regional parliament is allowed to spend up to 15 million MMK on campaign expenses. A candidate running for constituencies located in states such as Kachin, Karen, and Karenni, may spend up to 30 million MMK ($7,500 USD).
The regime’s Ministry of Legal Affairs introduced law as a subject for Grade 12 students in basic education during an internal ministry meeting on Oct. 11. A private school teacher told DVB that both education staff and private educators have also been instructed to take legal training.
“This is good for those who are interested in a legal career,” a lawyer told DVB on the condition of anonymity. A teacher who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), which was formed by striking civil servants who opposed the 2021 military coup, said the move is intended to “threaten young people with the law.”
SAGAING/MAGWAY—Resistance forces in central Burma told DVB that the military is using “spy balloons” for reconnaissance missions across Monywa, Butalin, Ayardaw, Chaung-U, Pale and Salingyi townships in Sagaing Region, as well as Myaing Township in Magway Region, this month. Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions constitute central Burma.
A PDF member in Myaing told DVB that he spotted a spy balloon on Oct. 21. Another PDF member in Butalin told DVB that the regime’s Northwestern Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters in Monywa Township has used spy balloons over the last week, adding that they fly lower than gyrocopters and paramotors.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,070 MMK)
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