23rd-24th September, 2021

 

The junta cut off internet access in 11 townships – eight townships in Chin State except for the capital Hakha and three in Magway Region – since Thursday evening. Only 2G mobile network is available in some of these areas, according to netizens. Although the junta does not make any comment about the internet blackout, it's troops have been facing huge causalities in these regions due to the armed resistances of local PDFs. The junta reportedly blocks internet access in Demoso, Karenni State, since this evening.

The internet access has already been blocked in 11 townships from Kachin, Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay. The junta previously blocked internet access for more than a year in Rakhine State when fighting broke out between its troops and the Arakan Army in 2019, violating rights of more than 1.4 million residents and severely affecting their lives during the pandemic. According to a 2019 census of the General Administration Department, the eight townships in Chin State have a population of over 480,000. Moreover, many parts of the country hit by power outages since 24 September afternoon.

The Irrawaddy reports that thousands of villagers have fled their homes in and around Kyikone village in Taze Township, Sagaing Region, as the junta troops came to torch the village for the second time following the murder of policeman and his family. Mizzima reports that a solider committed suicide on 23 September in Mandalay. Since the coup, there have been frequent incidents of soldiers and police committing suicide and shooting among themselves.

Five people, including Aung San Suu Kyi and her Australian economic advisor Sean Turnell, have made appearance in a Naypyidaw court on 23 September, according to the Burma Associated Press. They have been charged under the Section 3 (1) (c) of the official secrets Law which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

According to Shwe Phee Myay News, the junta is tightening controls on the flow of goods to the Wa armed group UWSA-controlled territories in northern Shan State. The junta has previously banned the import of 10 basic food items into the UWSA-controlled areas. Mizzima reports that the junta troops have warned some village administrators in Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State, not to supply food to the AA.

The US Embassy in Yangon announces that its State Department Counselor Derek Chollet held meeting with the NUG representatives, including Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on 23 September. “He also expressed appreciation for the NUG’s leadership and dedication to the people of Burma in the face of the horrific violence perpetrated by the Burmese military regime,” the statement said. 

The Wall Street Journal reports that a federal judge in Washington has ordered the Facebook company to release of records of accounts removed by the Facebook to investigate crimes against the Rohingya in Myanmar. Since August 2017, thousands of Rohingya have been killed and about 700,000 have been forced to flee to Bangladesh due to the military operation in northern Rakhine State.