16th-18th October, 2021

On October 18, the junta announced that it dropped charges on 4,320 people and released 1,316 political prisoners as a sign of ‘good deed.’ These include the cases of 24 artists and 10 social influencers charged under Section 505 (a) for their involvement in anti-coup movement. However, several high-profile politicians and those accused to link with the NUG, CRPH, and PDF are not included in the list.

In his speech on 18 October, the coup leader blamed the escalation of violence on the NUG/CRPH and some EAOs assisting them, and said ASEAN also needs to put pressure on them. Junta’s spokesman told the BBC that although SAC’s chairman had been excluded from the ASEAN summit, which will begin on 26 October, they would not withdraw their membership from the association.

According to the Than Lwin Times, after the coup, 14 MPs in Mon State signed confession letter that they have nothing to do with the NUG/CRPH and will not involve in any political activity. According to an earlier report of Myanmar Now, more than 100 MPs, including NLD MPs, have also signed the confession.

On 17 October, in Waingmaw, Kachin State, the wives of soldiers from the 58th Infantry Battalion were killed and injured near the base due to a landmine planted by its own troops, Kachinwaves reported. In Kyaikto Township, five soldiers, including the battalion commander's wife, were killed in KNU’s ambush attack, according to Salween News. A total of seven junta troops, including a major, who came to the KNU Brigade 5 areas as reinforcements, were killed in their ambush, the KNU said on 18 October.

Thirteen Sagaing-based PDF announced that they carried out landmine attack against the convoy of notorious police chief Than Hlaing on October 16, killing twelve police officers. In Colin Township, Sagaing Region, Colin PDF announced that it had blocked trucks transporting Myanmar beer, a business run by the junta, and destroyed all goods.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Myanmar said on 18 October that it was having difficulty delivering humanitarian aids to families displaced by the conflict in Chin State. Ten refugee camps in Mindat have received assistance but have found it difficult to deliver aids to shelters in other areas. There are more than 15,000 displaced civilians in Mindat Township alone and some are dying from hunger, aid workers told local media. The US State Department says it will send a team to some ASEAN countries next week, led by Derek Chollet, a counsellor of the Secretary of State Antony Blinken to address the crisis in Myanmar.