Two killed by unexploded ordnance in northern Shan State
Residents of Kutkai Township in northern Shan State told DVB that two men were killed by an unexploded ordnance in Namhpatkar village on Sunday. Kutkai is located 47 miles (76 km) north of the regional capital Lashio and 174 miles (280 km) south of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) headquarters at Laiza, Kachin State.
A Kutkai resident familiar with the incident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that one of the deceased was a KIA member, who along with an unidentified man, were killed in Namhpatkar village while attempting to retrieve gunpowder from an unexploded artillery shell. The KIA has not yet shared details about the death of one of its members.
The KIA captured the regime’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 123 in Namhpatkar village on Jan. 24. The KIA had been active in Kutkai before the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and its fellow Brotherhood Alliance member, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), seized the town in January 2024 during “Operation 1027,” which was an offensive launched on Oct. 27, 2023.
Eighty injured at hot-air balloon festival in Taunggyi
Pro-regime media reported that only two hot-air balloons were released on the fifth day of the Tazaungdaing hot-air balloon festival in Taunggyi on Sunday. Attendees told DVB that at least 80 people were injured while seeking cover from heavy rain on Saturday. The festival marks the full moon day of Tazaungmone Oct. 29 to Nov. 4.
“I saw many ambulances. Some visitors and children fainted because of exhaustion,” an attendee told DVB on the condition of anonymity. A resident of the Shan State capital told DVB that the Awayyar Ground, where the annual Tazaungdaing festival is held, was overcrowded with attendees and vendors.
Pro-regime media reported that more than 400 hot-air balloons are scheduled to be released this year. Unconfirmed reports suggested that the festival may be extended this year to allow for the release of the remaining balloons. Rain and wind destroyed an unknown number of homes in Yangon Region on Nov. 1, according to residents
A protest demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from prison, where she’s been held since the military coup on Feb, 1, 2021, and the rejection of regime scheduled elections set to begin on Dec. 28, outside of the White House in Washington, DC, on Sept. 26. (Credit: Anti-Dictatorship in Burma – DC Metro Area)
US and China urged to reject regime ‘sham elections’
A protest against the regime’s 2025-26 elections is scheduled to be held in front of the White House and the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 22. Organizers of the protest told DVB that they had an online meeting with Burmese people living across the U.S. on Nov. 1 to plan the anti-regime election protests.
“We’d like to request President Trump to officially say he’ll not accept the terrorist regime’s illegal elections,” Yin Aye, a Burmese pro-democracy activist in New York, told DVB. Moe Zaw Oo, the National Unity Government (NUG) deputy foreign minister, told DVB that the NUG continues to uphold its policy of non-violence in opposing the regime elections.
Tun Wai, a Burmese-American from Philadelphia, told DVB that the protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, is aimed to warn Beijing not to continue supporting the regime elections in Burma. Naypyidaw’s three-phased elections are set to begin on Dec. 28 and continue on Jan. 11, and at a later unknown date in January 2026, in 274 out of Burma’s 330 townships.
News by Region
AYEYARWADY—Residents of Pathein Township told DVB that the statue of Burma’s independence hero General Aung San was demolished by regime forces on Saturday. “The statue was heavily guarded while being razed by two buckhoes,” a resident of the Ayeyarwady Region capital told DVB.
Residents of Bago Township in Bago Region told DVB that an Aung San statue, which stood for over 30 years, was removed by local authorities on Aug. 7. Aung San is the father of jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. He was assassinated, along with seven other pre-independence leaders and a security guard, in Yangon on July 19, 1947.
SAGAING—Residents of Chaung-U Township told DVB that two civilians were killed and another was injured in artillery attacks carried out by regime forces on Sunday. The attacks followed fighting between the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and regime forces which killed one PDF member and four regime troops on Nov. 2, the PDF told DVB.
A Chaung-U resident, who witnessed the attacks, told DVB on the condition of anonymity that besides the PDF member killed, the other was a 13-year-old resident. Regime artillery attacks killed two civilians and injured two children on Oct. 10. Chaung-U is located 16 miles (25 km) south of the region’s capital Monywa.
YANGON—Regime media reported that Myanma Railways is preparing to launch an online ticketing and payment system for passengers traveling on the Yangon-Mandalay route. “If you try to buy tickets in advance at Yangon Central Station, they are always sold out,” a Yangon resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
Passengers on the Yangon-Naypyidaw-Mandalay trains No. 7 Up/8 Down, No. 31 Up/32 Down DEMU, and No 27 Up /28 Down RBE can book train tickets by contacting listed railway station phone numbers five days before departure. Payments can be made via MMQR and sent to Myanmar railways via the Viber smartphone app.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,075 MMK)
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