Five civilians killed by airstrike in Sagaing Region
Five members of a family, including a two-year-old, were killed and five others were injured by an airstrike on Natmawoo village in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region, carried out by the Burma Air Force on Tuesday. Wetlet is located about 50 miles (80 km) east of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa.
“There was no fighting at all in that village. Some of the injured are in critical condition. There has been fighting in the township, but not near the village where the attack took place,” a Wetlet resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Five homes were reportedly damaged or destroyed by the airstrike.
Fighting between regime and resistance forces in Wetlet’s Saingnainglay village, located 35 miles (56 km) west of Natmawoo village, was reported on Nov. 27. At least 1,849 people have been killed in 2,321 airstrikes nationwide this year, according to DVB data. The regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) is unable to hold elections in 10 of Sagaing’s 37 total townships, including Wetlet.
Myanmar records over 2,000 landmine casualties
Deaths and injuries from landmines and unexploded ordnance hit a four-year high in 2024, driven by conflicts in Syria and Myanmar as well as European countries moving to withdraw from the treaty banning their use, the Landmine Monitor 2025 report showed on Monday.
Over 6,000 incidents were recorded last year, including 1,945 deaths and 4,325 injuries – the highest annual total since 2020, according to the report. Nearly 90 percent were civilians, with almost half women and children. Myanmar recorded the highest number with over 2,000 incidents due to increased use by both the army and non-state armed groups, the report stated.
The surge was driven mainly by mines exploding in conflict zones in Syria and Myanmar – both countries which are outside the treaty. In Syria, returning residents face growing risks from unexploded ordnance following the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad, the report said. Read more
Journalist Sithu Aung Myint, who contributed to Frontier Myanmar and Voice of America, before he was arrested in August 2021, at an unknown location on an unspecified date. (Credit: RFA)
Two journalists and one pro-democracy activist released
Sources told DVB that journalists Sithu Aung Myint and Htet Htet Khine, who worked for BBC Media Action, as well as pro-democracy singer Thanthar Win, were released from prison on Sunday in a regime amnesty that included 3,085 other political prisoners.
Thaik Tun Oo, the Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM) spokesperson, told DVB that prison authorities released inmates, who were either convicted or detained on allegations of violating Section 505-A of the Penal Code, with only a few days remaining on their sentences.
Sithu Aung Myint was arrested in Bahan Township, Yangon Region, in August 2021 and convicted of violating Section 505-A, which criminalizes spreading “fake news” and “incitement” against the military, as well as Section 124(a) for “causing contempt against the nation.” He was sentenced to five years at Yangon’s Insein Prison. Read more
News by Region
BAGO—Residents of Nattalin Township told DVB that 30 people in 20 villages were arrested for destroying election campaign billboards belonging to the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) on Thursday. Nattalin is located 160 miles (257 km) south of the region’s capital Bago.
A resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the 30 are under investigation at Tapun Police station. A total of 248 civilians have been arrested with 207 charged under the Election Protection Law, which carries a minimum sentence of three years in prison to a maximum sentence of death.
KACHIN—The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) told DVB that fighting broke out with regime forces at an unspecified location along the Mogok-Momeik Road, somewhere between Mogok Township in Mandalay Region and Momeik Township in northern Shan State, on Sunday.
Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, acknowledged the fighting to DVB but said that he couldn’t confirm the exact location. The People’s Defense Force (PDF) confirmed that it was fighting alongside the KIA against regime forces. Read more
KAREN—Twenty-five Karen civil society groups “overseas,” and the Karen National Union (KNU), called on all citizens in Burma to oppose the regime’s 2025-26 elections, which are scheduled to begin on Dec. 28 and continue into January 2026. The KNU rejected the elections on Aug. 26.
“We are very disappointed in some Karen groups that support the fake elections,” the 25 Karen groups stated on Dec. 1. Nearly 1.2 million residents of Karen State have been displaced from their homes due to regime attacks and airstrikes since the 2021 coup, according to the KNU.
Residents of Myawaddy Township told DVB that the Thai authorities shut down ferry gates along the Thangyin (Moei) River in five townships of Tak Province Nov. 30-Dec. 6, Myawaddy is located on the Burma-Thailand border 81 miles (130 km) east of the state capital Hpa-An.
A resident told DVB that there is fighting between the military and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in Myawaddy’s Minletpan, Kyaukkhat and Wawlay towns. Regime media reported that 1,954 foreign nationals have been detained during raids at Shwe Kokko and KK Park since Nov. 18.
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