18th-19th May, 2021 #day107 #day108

 

Those believed to be informing the junta troops are being assassinated across the country. At around 5 am on 18 May, the local administrator of No. 3 ward in Lanmadaw Township, Yangon, was shot in the head. Eyewitnesses told Khit Thit Media that two bombs exploded near his office, injuring two members of the junta troops. Eyewitnesses told DVB that another ward administrator appointed by the military council was shot dead this morning in Three Pagodas Township, Karen State. He is a retired army battalion commander and a member of the military backed USDP party. In Pekon Township, Shan State, unidentified gunmen shot and killed a couple known as dalan or informants, according to the Kantarawaddy Times.

A 10-year-old boy Lian Muan Sang, was killed in a bomb blast in Tedim, Chin State, according to Zalen Media. Locals are commenting on social media that he is a clever baby who is helping his mother daily work. Five people have been killed in Tedim since the coup. Around 10,000 locals are in need of emergency assistance in Mindat, a town under martial law. According to Myanmar Now, there are about 3,000 people in seven refugee camps. In addition, the junta troops cut off the water supply of the town yesterday. In Kanpetlet town, near Mindat, many residents are no longer living in their homes and are fleeing to their farms or villages, according to a local.

The Arakan National Party (ANP) told Western News that it would not attend the meeting of the junta-appointed election commission. The party previously said that it is considering disbanding the Rakhine State Military Council as the junta has not complied with its demands. People's Defence Forces have been formed in nine townships in Irrawaddy Region, which has been criticized on social media for its inactiveness since the coup. Local youths formed the Ayeyarwaddy Federal Army on April 16, DVB reported.

According to Kachinwaves, the KIA ambushed seven junta fuel tanks coming from the Chinese border in northern Shan State in two days. A video of a man in civilian clothes firing an RPG on the Union Highway is also circulating on the internet. The SSPP/SSA, a Shan armed group, has provided 630 lakh kyats (USD 38,000) to the owners of 117 houses in Namtu Township that were set on fire during inter-ethnic armed groups fighting, according to Shan News.

Reuters reports that the UN General Assembly has postponed meeting to discuss arms embargo on Myanmar as there was no enough support. This non-binding resolution has been backed by 48 countries, including European countries, United States and the only Asian country, South Korea. The meeting was reportedly postponed in order to gain the support of countries, especially ASEAN members. The Irrawaddy reports that some top military officials visited Russia this week. They were accompanied by business tycoon Tay Za who is notorious as an arms dealer. This visit is to discuss more than 20 megaprojects, including arms deals, sources told The Irrawaddy. Russia's deputy defence minister once visited Myanmar after the coup and attended Armed Forces Day parade on 27 March, the same day more than a hundred killed in Yangon’s Hlaing Thar Yar Township.

A Japanese freelance journalist who was arrested and deported by the military said in an interview with DVB that political activists detained at the junta’s interrogation camps were being tortured to death and interrogated. He was arrested twice and spent almost a month in prison. Eleven Media reports that H&M, the world's second-largest Swedish clothing retailer, has told Reuters that it will re-order new garments from its garment factories in Myanmar. The company said in a statement that it did not want the closure of the factories to prevent tens of thousands of garment workers from losing their jobs. Many netizens have opposed to this announcement, claiming that the company should not associate with the military, while others have expressed sympathy for the workers. After the Australian government said it will not impose sanctions on the junta, 390 civil society organisations in Myanmar sent an open letter to the Australian Foreign Minister, saying that they are "extremely disappointed" by this decision and called on the Australia to take immediate action against the junta.