Regime marks ASEAN peace visit by bombing civilians

Bangla Press Desk:   The junta marked the Malaysian foreign minister’s peace mission to Naypyitaw this week in typical fashion, launching airstrikes before and after his visit that killed nearly 40 civilians.

Yet on Thursday, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing told Minister Mohamad Hasan and ASEAN’s special envoy Othman Hashim that he had invited ethnic armed groups to join the “peace process” and urged resistance forces he labels “terrorists” to return to politics.

His words rang hollow. Two days earlier, on Tuesday, junta aircraft bombed Chaung‑U in Sagaing Region, killing at least 26 people including children and injuring more than 40 in the resistance-held township.

The following day, bombs struck Htin Chaung village in Chin State’s Mindat Township, landing inside a school compound and killing three students and one adult. The same day, four civilians were killed in Magwe Region when airstrikes hit oil fields in Pauk and Myaing townships.

Even as Min Aung Hlaing spoke of peace in Naypyitaw, his forces were preparing fresh attacks. On Thursday evening, shortly after the Malaysian delegation departed, junta jets bombed Mongmit, a Ta’ang National Liberation Army-held town in northern Shan State, killing seven civilians.

The airstrikes demonstrate the regime’s unwillingness to halt its atrocities – even as it talks of peace and hosts international statesmen.

Malaysia’s delegation reportedly pressed Min Aung Hlaing to reduce the bloodshed. But nearly five years after the coup, the junta continues to turn a deaf ear to ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus, which called for an immediate end to violence. ASEAN has responded by barring Min Aung Hlaing from its summits — a diplomatic standoff that has dragged on for years.

Hasan said his visit aimed to explore ways to resolve Myanmar’s crisis. In reality, however, his delegation listened as Min Aung Hlaing, Prime Minister Nyo Saw and Foreign Minister Than Swe repeated their familiar script of “peace” and “elections” — while the bombs kept falling.

Killers Posing as Statesmen

Even as Myanmar’s generals remain barred from ASEAN summits for ignoring the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus—including an end to violence—Foreign Minister Than Swe met with his Malaysian counterpart Mohamad Hasan on Thursday, urging Kuala Lumpur, the current ASEAN chair, to restore Myanmar’s “original role and rights” in the grouping.

Than Swe insisted that sidelining Myanmar was no longer “appropriate.” Whether this message was meant as a call to support the junta’s planned elections, or simply a confident echo of Beijing and Moscow’s unwavering support, was left unsaid in the official statement.

For nearly five years, the regime has brushed aside ASEAN’s consensus for peace, leaning heavily on China and Russia for diplomatic cover while killing thousands of civilians. Now, with a straight face, it demands ASEAN’s formal recognition as it seeks legitimacy through elections supported by its two key arms suppliers. Outside of its allies, the junta’s vote has been widely condemned as a ploy to cement military rule.

The generals may believe that Beijing and Moscow’s protection makes them look like legitimate international statesmen. But on the world stage—where the US and Western powers, Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN’s own heavyweights set the tone—the junta remains firmly outside the circle.

Malaysia to Send Election Monitors 

YANGON—Myanmar’s junta said Friday that Malaysia would send observation teams to its long-delayed election, as it battles multiple rebel forces opposed to the poll.

A civil war has consumed Myanmar since the military snatched power in a 2021 coup, jailing democratic figurehead Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and deposing her civilian government.

The military has touted elections—due to start in phases on 28 Dec. —as a path to reconciliation.

Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan arrived in the capital Naypyitaw on Thursday to meet with Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.

State-run Global New Light of Myanmar said Friday that Mohamad “vowed to send election observation teams to Myanmar”. Read more

Candlelight Massacre: Junta Paragliders Kill 32

Several children were among at least 32 people killed and over 50 injured on Monday night when junta paragliders bombed a peaceful candlelight vigil in Sagaing Region’s Chaung-U Township.

The march marked the Full Moon Day of the ongoing festival of light or Thadingyut, an important religious day on the Buddhist calendar.

The paragliders dropped two bombs on the anti-regime candlelight vigil that had just started in Bon To village 10 km from Chaung-U Town around 7 pm, a local told The Irrawaddy. 

The Myanmar regime’s crackdown on opponents of its election is intensifying, with 64 people prosecuted since its Election Protection Law took effect two months ago.

Enacted on 29 July, the law punishes any form of opposition to the poll with penalties ranging from three years in prison to the death sentence.

As of 30 September, a total of 24 cases involving 64 suspects had been filed under the new law, Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant General Tun Tun Naung told the Central Committee for Security Supervision on.

BP/SP