Military Regime Stages Superficial Demolition of Cyber-Scam Buildings in Shwe Kokko to Evade International Pressure and FBI Scrutiny နိုင်ငံတကာဖိအားကြောင့် ရွှေကုက္ကိုရှိ ကျားဖြန့်အဆောက်အအုံအချို့ကို စစ်အုပ်စုက ဟန်ပြဖြိုဖျက်ပြနေသော်လည်း ငွေလိမ်လုပ်ငန်းများ ဆက်လက်လည်ပတ်နေဆဲဖြစ်

Photo- Myanmar Military Junta’s Media 

SHWE KOKKO, Myanmar
Reported by PMN01, Public Myanmar News(လူထုမြန်မာ)
May 28, 2026

The illegal military regime has launched a tactical operation to demolish over 30 sealed buildings linked to cyber-scam networks in Shwe Kokko new town, north of Myawaddy, Karen State, starting on the morning of May 25.
ကရင်ပြည်နယ်၊ မြဝတီမြို့နယ်မြောက်ဘက် ရွှေကုက္ကိုမြို့သစ်က အွန်လိုင်းငွေလိမ် (ကျားဖြန့်) လုပ်ငန်းတွေနဲ့ ဆက်နွယ်ပြီး ချိပ်ပိတ်ထားတဲ့ အဆောက်အအုံ ၃၀ ကျော်ကို အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စုက မေလ ၂၅ ရက် မနက်ပိုင်းကစပြီး စက်ယန္တရားကြီးတွေနဲ့ ဖြိုချဖျက်ဆီးနေတယ်လို့ ဒေသခံတွေက ပြောပါတယ်။ 

However, local sources and border observers expose this move as a deceptive theatrical stunt orchestrated to mislead the FBI and shield illicit billions from rising international pressure, while the core cyber-fraud operations remain fully functional on the ground.
ဒါဟာ တကယ်တမ်း နှိမ်နင်းခြင်းမဟုတ်ဘဲ FBI နဲ့ နိုင်ငံတကာအဖွဲ့အစည်းတွေရဲ့ ဖိအားကို လျှော့ချဖို့အတွက် လုပ်ပြနေတဲ့ ဟန်ပြပြဇာတ်သက်သက်သာဖြစ်တယ်လို့ ဒေသတွင်း သတင်းရင်းမြစ်တွေက ဖော်ထုတ်ဝေဖန်နေကြပါတယ်။

According to regional ground sources, junta authorities are deploying heavy machinery to demolish 4-story buildings at a calculated rate of two per day. These structures were previously "sealed off" by the junta-aligned Border Guard Force (BGF) under allegations of cyber-fraud, illegal gambling, and human trafficking. 
မြေပြင်သတင်းရင်းမြစ်တွေရဲ့ အဆိုအရ အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်တပ်တွေဟာ လေးထပ်အဆောက်အဦတွေကို တစ်ရက်ကို နှစ်လုံးနှုန်းနဲ့ လိုက်လံဖြိုချနေပြီး၊ အဆိုပါနေရာတွေဟာ အွန်လိုင်းငွေလိမ်လည်မှု၊ လောင်းကစားနဲ့ လူကုန်ကူးမှုတွေနဲ့ ဆက်စပ်လို့ လက်ဝေခံ BGF အဖွဲ့က အရင်ကတည်းက ဟန်ပြချိပ်ပိတ်ထားတဲ့ အဆောက်အအုံဟောင်းတွေ ဖြစ်တယ်လို့ ဆိုပါတယ်။ 

Photo: Myanmar Military Junta’s Media 

A local source familiar with the matter revealed the reality behind the curtains: "The buildings being demolished are abandoned structures previously used by scam operators. This destruction is a performance designed solely for international optics. The actual cyber-scam syndicates are still operating seamlessly. This is their standard playbook—they temporarily clear out during high-profile scrutiny, only to resume operations later. New scam buildings are actively being constructed as we speak."
ဒီအခြေအနေနဲ့ပတ်သက်ပြီး ဒေသတွင်း သတင်းရင်းမြစ်က "အခုဖျက်နေတဲ့တိုက်တွေက အရင်က ကျားဖြန့်လုပ်တဲ့သူတွေ သုံးခဲ့တဲ့ အဆောက်အဦအဟောင်းတွေပါ။ ဒီလိုဖျက်ပြတာက နိုင်ငံတကာဖိအားကြောင့် လုပ်ပြတဲ့ပုံစံမျိုး။ တကယ်တမ်း ကျားဖြန့်လုပ်ငန်းတွေက ဆက်ပြီး လည်ပတ်နေတုန်းပဲ။ လာစစ်ရင် ခေတ္တဖယ်ပေးလိုက်ပြီး နောက်တော့ ပြန်လည်ပတ်ကြတာပဲ။ အခုချိန်အထိ အသစ်ဆောက်နေတဲ့ အဆောက်အဦးတွေ အများကြီးရှိသေးတယ်" လို့ ထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုထားပါတယ်။

Pressure has escalated sharply through 2024 and 2025 from international actors, including China, demanding the eradication of border cyber-crimes. Following the United States' announcement establishing the "Scam Center Strike Force" to target transnational cyber-crimes in Myanmar, the BGF abruptly declared a crackdown in Shwe Kokko on November 17, 2025.
ပြီးခဲ့တဲ့ ၂၀၂၄ နဲ့ ၂၀၂၅ ခုနှစ်အတွင်း တရုတ်နိုင်ငံအပါအဝင် နိုင်ငံတကာက နယ်စပ်ဖြတ်ကျော် ရာဇဝတ်မှုတွေကို နှိမ်နင်းဖို့ ဖိအားတွေ ပြင်းထန်ခဲ့ပါတယ်။ အထူးသဖြင့် အမေရိကန်အစိုးရက "Scam Center Strike Force" အဖွဲ့ကို ဖွဲ့စည်းပြီး မြန်မာနိုင်ငံက ငွေလိမ်လုပ်ငန်းတွေကို တိုက်ဖျက်မယ်လို့ ကြေညာပြီးနောက်ပိုင်း၊ ၂၀၂၅ ခုနှစ် နိုဝင်ဘာ ၁၇ ရက်ကစလို့ BGF အဖွဲ့က ရွှေကုက္ကိုမှာရှိတဲ့ ကျားဖြန့်တွေကို ရှင်းလင်းတော့မယ်ဆိုပြီး စတင်ကြေညာလာခဲ့တာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ 

Border experts highlight that destroying a few dozen buildings out of hundreds is merely a smokescreen. The syndicates have rapidly adapted, diversifying their bases across major mainland cities in Myanmar, moving deeper into Chinese networks, or setting up heavily protected hubs right along the Thai border to escape accountability.
နယ်စပ်အရေးစောင့်ကြည့်သူတွေကတော့ စစ်ကောင်စီဟာ အဆောက်အအုံ ဆယ်ဂဏန်းလောက်ကိုပဲ အရုပ်ပြ ဖြိုဖျက်ပြနေတာဖြစ်ပြီး၊ တကယ်တမ်း ကျားဖြန့်ဂိုဏ်းတွေကတော့ နည်းလမ်းအမျိုးမျိုးနဲ့ တရုတ်နိုင်ငံ၊ မြန်မာပြည်တွင်းက မြို့ကြီးတွေနဲ့ ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံနယ်စပ်အတွင်း အကာအကွယ်ယူကာ အရှိန်အဟုန်နဲ့ ဆက်လက်လုပ်ကိုင်နေကြဆဲဖြစ်တယ်လို့ ထောက်ပြကြပါတယ်။

Currently, the military junta and BGF have heavily locked down Shwe Kokko, enforcing strict checkpoints and restricting the movement of local civilians.
လက်ရှိ ရွှေကုက္ကိုဒေသတွင်းမှာ အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်တပ်နဲ့ BGF ပူးပေါင်းတပ်တွေက လုံခြုံရေးတွေကို အလွန်အမင်း တင်းကျပ်ထားပြီး ပြည်သူအချို့ရဲ့ သွားလာမှုတွေကိုပါ ပိတ်ဆို့ကန့်သတ်ထားတယ်လို့ ဒေသခံတွေကပြောပါတယ််။ 

Locals suspect these severe restrictions are intended to prevent information leaks regarding the relocation routes of these cyber-scam cartels and their new operating zones.
ဒါဟာ ကျားဖြန့်ဂိုဏ်းတွေ တကယ်တမ်း ရွှေ့ပြောင်းနေတဲ့ လမ်းကြောင်းတွေနဲ့ လုပ်ငန်းခွင်အသစ်တွေကို သတင်းပေါက်ကြားမှုမရှိစေဖို့ ဖုံးကွယ်တဲ့အနေနဲ့ ဒေသခံတွေကို ပိတ်ဆို့ထားခြင်းဖြစ်နိုင်တယ်လို့ ဒေသခံတွေက သံသယဖြစ်နေကြပါတယ်။ 

Photo: Saw Zin Maung (Public Myanmar News)

According to regional ground sources, since early 2026, cyber-scam operations have significantly resurged across Shwe Kokko, Myawaddy, and Mae Htaw Tha Lay. Furthermore, numerous new scam hubs have aggressively emerged in areas including Thit Ka Tay, Metta Lin Myaing, Phalu, Kyauk Khet, Son See Myaing, and Three Pagodas Pass. 
မြေပြင်သတင်းရင်းမြစ်တွေရဲ့ အဆိုအရ ၂၀၂၆ နှစ်ဆန်းပိုင်းမှစပြီး ရွှေကုက္ကို၊ မြဝတီမြို့နှင့် မယ်ထော်သလေးဒေသတို့၌ ကျားဖြန့်ဆိုက်များ ပြန်လည် လုပ်ကိုင်လာကြသည့်အပြင် သစ်ကတေ၊ မေတ္တာလင်းမြိုင်၊ ဖလူး၊ ကျောက်ခက်၊ ဆုံဆည်းမြိုင် နဲ့ ဘုရားသုံးဆူ စတဲ့ဒေသတွေမှာလည်းကျားဖြန့်ဆိုက်နေရာအသစ်များစွာ ထပ်မံထွက်ပေါ်လာခဲ့ပါတယ်။ 

To create a visual distraction, the military junta, following its anti-scam draft law on May 14, demolished two abandoned structures in Shwe Kokko on May 25, announcing plans to destroy up to 77 buildings. However, border sources highlight that the junta is intentionally raiding only the KNA-controlled side of Shwe Kokko for international optics, while completely leaving the cyber-scam hubs inside the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army(DKBA) territory untouched. 
အမေရိကန်နိုင်ငံရဲ့ ဖိအားကြောင့် မေ ၁၄ ရက်မှာ ကျားဖြန့်ဥပဒေကြမ်းကို စစ်အုပ်စုက ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့ပြီး၊မေ ၂၅ ရက်မှာ အဆောက်အအုံ ၂ လုံးကို ဖြိုချပြကာ အဆောက်အအုံ ၇၇ လုံးအထိ ဆက်လက်ဖျက်ဆီးသွားမယ်လို့ ထုတ်ပြန်ထားပေမယ့်၊ဒါဟာ အမှန်တကယ် ရှင်းလင်းတာ မဟုတ်ဘဲ စKNA ထိန်းချုပ်ရာ ရွှေကုက္ကိုဘက်ကိုသာ အကြိမ်ကြိမ်စီးနင်းပြနေပြီး၊ဒီမိုကရေစီအကျိုးပြုကရင့် တပ်မတော် (DKBA) ထိန်းချုပ်နယ်မြေအတွင်းကကျားဖြန့်ဆိုက်တွေကိုတော့စီးနင်းနိုင်တာမရှိသေးပါဘူး။

Consequently, scam operators have rapidly expanded into these new zones. Notably, the notorious "Tai Chang" scam centers—for which the United States government issued a $10 million bounty for information on April 23—are currently operating actively in the Kyauk Khet area under DKBA territory.
ဒါ့အပြင်DKBA နယ်မြေများအတွင်း ကျားဖြန့်တွေဟာအချိန်တိုအတွင်း အများအပြား အခြေစိုက်လာခဲ့ကာ ပြီးခဲ့တဲ့ဧပြီ ၂၃ ရက်မှာအမေရိကန်နိုင်ငံက သတင်းအချက်အလက်အတွက် ဆုကြေးဒေါ်လာ ၁၀ သန်းအထိ ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့တဲ့‘တိုင်ချန်း’ (Tai Chang) ကျားဖြန့်စင်တာတွေဟာလည်းလက်ရှိကျောက်ခက်ဒေသမှာရှိနေတာပါ။

Photo: Saw Zin Maung (Public Myanmar News)

According to U.S. government reports, Southeast Asia-based transnational organized crime organizations (TCOs) are aggressively targeting American citizens with large-scale cyber-fraud operations. In 2025 alone, American citizens lost over $7.2 billion to these devastating scams. 
အမေရိကန်အစိုးရရဲ့ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်တွေအရ အရှေ့တောင်အာရှအခြေစိုက် နိုင်ငံဖြတ်ကျော် ရာဇဝတ်မှုအဖွဲ့အစည်းတွေ (TCOs) ဟာ အမေရိကန်နိုင်ငံသားတွေကို ပစ်မှတ်ထားပြီး၊အကြီးစား ဆိုက်ဘာလိမ်လည်မှုများ ပြုလုပ်နေကာ ၂၀၂၅ တနှစ်အတွင်းမှာပဲ အမေရိကန်
နိုင်ငံသားတွေဟာ အဆိုပါငွေလိမ်လည်မှုလုပ်ငန်းတွေကြောင့် ဒေါ်လာ ၇ ဒသမ ၂ ဘီလီယံကျော် ဆုံးရှုံးခဲ့ကြရပါတယ်။

Currently, the military junta and BGF/KNA forces have tightly locked down Shwe Kokko, enforcing strict checkpoints to prevent information leaks regarding the relocation routes of these cyber-scam cartels into their newly established zones. While the military regime attempts to dodge international sanctions and FBI scrutiny by staging structural demolitions, it remains the ultimate benefactor, continuing to reap billions in illicit revenue and bribes from these transnational crime networks.
လက်ရှိမှာ အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စုဟာ နိုင်ငံတကာရဲ့ အရေးယူမှုတွေနဲ့ FBI ရဲ့ စုံစမ်းစစ်ဆေးမှုတွေကနေ ရုန်းထွက်ဖို့ အဆောက်အအုံတချို့ကို ဟန်ပြဖျက်ဆီးပြနေပေမယ့်၊ တကယ်တမ်းမှာတော့ သတင်းမပေါက်ကြားအောင် ဒေသခံတွေကို လမ်းပိတ်ဆို့ထားပြီး ကျားဖြန့်ဆိုက်အသစ်တွေဆီ ရွှေ့ပြောင်းနေတာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ သူတို့ကိုယ်တိုင်ကတော့ ဒီနိုင်ငံဖြတ်ကျော် ရာဇဝတ်ဂိုဏ်းတွေဆီကနေ ဘီလီယံနဲ့ချီတဲ့ လာဘ်ငွေတွေကို ကန့်လန့်ကာနောက်ကွယ်ကနေ ဆက်လက်ရယူအမြတ်ထုတ်နေတာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။

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Massive Corruption Scandal in Bago: Military Recruitment Brokers and Officials Collude to Issue Fake IDs to Chinese Cyber Scammers

Photo- MOI

Report by PMN01, Public Myanmar News

May 22, 2026.

ပဲခူးမြို့နယ်မှာ မြန်မာစကား လုံးဝမတတ်ဘဲ တရုတ်စကားသာ ပြောတတ်တဲ့ တရုတ်ကျားဖြန့်လုပ်ကိုင်သူတွေကို ကျေးရွာအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးမှူးတွေနဲ့ လဝက၊ ထွေအုပ် ဝန်ထမ်းအချို့ ပူးပေါင်းပြီး နိုင်ငံသားစိစစ်ရေးကတ်ပြားတွေ တရားမဝင် ထုတ်ပေးခဲ့တဲ့ အဂတိလိုက်စားမှု ကွန်ရက်

တစ်ခု ပေါ်ပေါက်လာပါတယ်။

A major corruption scandal has emerged in Bago, where local administrative officials and immigration personnel allegedly issued national identity cards to Chinese nationals involved in cyber scam syndicates, known as "Kyarpyan”.

 ဒီဖြစ်စဉ်ဟာ အဆိုပါမှတ်ပုံတင်ကို ကိုင်ဆောင်ထားတဲ့ တရုတ်ကျားဖြန့်သမား နှစ်ဦး ပဲခူးတိုင်းအနောက်ခြမ်း မိုးညိုမြို့မှာ စမတ်ကတ် သွားရောက်ပြုလုပ်ရာကနေ လူထုမြန်မာသတင်းဌာနနဲ့ ဒေသခံတွေမှဖော်ထုတ်နိုင်ခဲ့တာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။

The illicit operation was exposed after local residents and Public Myanmar News helped uncover the case of two Chinese cyber scammers who, while holding these compromise identity cards, attempted to register for smart cards in Monyo Township, West Bago.

စုံစမ်းဖော်ထုတ်မှုတွေအရ ပဲခူး (လဝက) ဝန်ထမ်း 

ကေခိုင်ထွန်းဟာ ကလိကျေးရွာက မှတ်ပုံတင်နဲ့ စစ်မှုထမ်းပွဲစားဖြစ်သူ မဝါ ဆိုသူကတစ်ဆင့် ကျားဖြန့်သမားတစ်ဦးကို မြန်မာငွေ ၃၆ သိန်းနှုန်းနဲ့ ၇/ ကတ်တွေ ဝေစားမျှစား ပြုလုပ်ပေးခဲ့တာပါ။

According to investigations, an immigration staff member identified as Kay Khine Tun, collaborated with a local military recruitment and ID broker named Ma War, to issue fake identity cards to these scammers for 3.6 million Kyats per card. 

 ဒီအတွက် ပဲခူးမြို့နယ်အတွင်းရှိ တမာပင်၊ ကမ်းမြင့်၊ ပေပင်ချောင်၊ ကျောက်တန်း၊ ကလိနဲ့ ပေါက်တော စတဲ့ ကျေးရွာအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးမှူးတွေက ထောက်ခံချက်တွေ အသီးသီး ထုတ်ပေးခဲ့ကြပါတယ်။ ပေါက်တောကျေးရွာအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးမှူး သန်းအောင် အပါအဝင် တူမဆိုသူက ၆ ကတ်၊ မဝါက ကလိကျေးရွာကနေ ၁၄ ကတ်အထိ ပြုလုပ်ပေးခဲ့တာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။

Administrators from multiple villages including Tamapin, Kanmyint, Pepinchoung, Kyuarktan, Kali, and Pauktaw—provided fraudulent recommendation letters. Notably, Pauktaw Administrator Than Aung and his niece allegedly facilitated 6 cards, while Ma War secured 14 cards from Kali village.

Photo- MOI

ပွဲစားမဝါဟာ စစ်မှုထမ်းဆင့်ခေါ်ရေးဥက္ကဋ္ဌဖြစ်သူ မြို့နယ်အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးမှူးရဲ့ ထောက်ခံချက်တွေကို အသုံးချပြီး စာရွက်စာတမ်းအတုတွေနဲ့ ဒီနိုင်ငံသားကတ်တွေကို ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့တာဖြစ်ကြောင်း ထွက်ဆိုထားပါတယ်။

The broker reportedly confessed that Ma War forged documents using official recommendations intended for military conscription recruitment. 

 အဆိုပါ အပြစ်ကျူးလွန်သူ မဝါကို ပဲခူးအမှတ် (၃) ရဲစခန်းမှာ ယာယီထိန်းသိမ်းခဲ့ပေမယ့် မေလ ၇ ရက်နေ့ညမှာ ကလိကျေးရွာအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးမှူးနဲ့ (ကြက်) မချို ဆိုသူတို့က လာရောက်ခေါ်ဆောင်သွားခဲ့ပြီး လက်ရှိမှာ အပြင်ရောက်နေတယ်လို့ မျက်မြင်တွေ့ရှိသူတွေကပြောပါတယ်။

According to witnesses said that Ma War was temporarily detained at Bago Police Station No. 3, she was illegally removed from custody on May 7 by the Kali village administrator and an influential individual known as "Kyet" Ma Cho.

 ကျူးလွန်သူရဲ့ထွက်ဆိုချက်အရ သူမဟာ မြို့နယ်ထွေအုပ်က ဒုအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးမှူး ဇေယျာဦး၊ ဒုဦးစီးမှူး ကျော်ငြိမ်းဇံ တို့နဲ့ ပူးပေါင်းကာ စစ်မှုထမ်းအပတ်စဉ် ၂၇ နဲ့ ၂၈ အထိ လူရှာပေးပြီး ရရှိတဲ့ အကျိုးအမြတ်တွေကို အချိုးကျ ခွဲဝေယူခဲ့ကြတယ်လို့ ဆိုပါတယ်။

The suspect disclosed that she had been working closely with Bago Deputy Administrator Zayar Oo and Deputy Officer Kyaw Nyein Zan, splitting profits generated from military recruitment batches 27 and 28.

အခုအခါမှာတော့ ပဲခူးမှ (ကြက်) မချိုရဲ့ ကမ်းလှမ်းမှုနဲ့ မြဝတီကနေလာတဲ့ ဗမာစကားမတတ်တဲ့ တရုတ်ကျားဖြန့် ၁၀ ဦးထက်မနည်းကို ငွေပေးပြီး မှတ်ပုံတင်ရယူစေခဲ့တာဖြစ်ပြီး၊ ပြဿနာတွေကို မချိုက ရှင်းပေးမယ်လို့ ကတိပြုထားကြောင်း လည်းနီးစပ်တဲ့သူတွေကပြောပါတယ်။

According to closed said that Ma War further revealed that under Ma Cho's arrangement, more than ten Chinese scammers from Myawaddy were granted Myanmar IDs, with Ma Cho promising to resolve any subsequent legal issues. 

လက်ရှိမှာတော့ လဝက ဘက်က ဒီကိစ္စကို သတင်းအမှောင်ချပြီး ထုတ်ပေးလိုက်တဲ့ မှတ်ပုံတင်တွေကို အပူတပြင်း ပြန်လည်သိမ်းဆည်းဖို့ ကြိုးပမ်းနေပါတယ်။

Currently, the Immigration Department is attempting to suppress the news while urgently trying to confiscate the illegally issued IDs.

 ဒီအမှုမှာ ထွေအုပ်ဝန်ထမ်းကိုယ်တိုင် ပါဝင်ပတ်သက်နေတာကြောင့် ရဲစခန်းမှာ စာရွက်စာတမ်းအတုပြုလုပ်မှု ပုဒ်မ ၄၆၈ နဲ့ အမှုဖွင့် တိုင်ကြားမှာ မဟုတ်ဘူးလို့လည်း သတင်းထွက်ပေါ်နေပြီး၊ အဆိုပါ မှတ်ပုံတင်အတုရရှိသွားတဲ့ ကျားဖြန့်သမားတွေဟာ မြန်မာပြည်အနှံ့ကို ရောက်ရှိနေပြီလည်းဖြစ်ပါတယ်။

Sources indicate that the General Administration Department is reluctant to file official forgery charges under Section 468 due to the direct involvement of their own top officials. 

Meanwhile, these Chinese scammers holding valid Myanmar IDs have already dispersed across the country.

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Photo Credit: MOI

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Myanmar: No Redress or Justice for Rohingya Muslims in Hoyyar Siri (Htan Shauk Khan) Massacre Even After Two Years

Photo-Human Rights Watch

Public Myanmar News, May 20, 2026.

By PMN01,

Omar Ahmod risked his safety to return to Htan Shauk Khan village a few months after the massacre, located the sites where he had personally seen civilians gunned down, and took videos and photographs of human remains. These images were analyzed by forensics experts who, in some cases, identified gunshot injuries to the skulls of victims.

> “There, I saw heaps of skeletons and skulls scattered everywhere, clothes still intact though the flesh had decayed. Some bodies were in water-filled ditches, others on dry ground. I remembered exactly where these people had been gathered,” Omar Ahmod told John Holmes, an official from Human Rights Watch (HRW).

> 

Two years after the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed group, killed and wounded hundreds of Rohingya Muslims from Hoyyar Siri (Htan Shauk Khan) village in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and burned down their village, the survivors are still denied justice and cannot return to their homes.

The Arakan Army (AA), however, denies having committed war crimes, claiming that the majority of those killed were merely soldiers of the Myanmar military junta.

*The group invited several independent local news media outlets to cover and report on the mass casualties.*

However, the armed group deliberately fired on unarmed civilians who were seeking safety after the group advanced on two nearby bases of the Myanmar military junta.

HRW urged that both the Myanmar military junta and the Arakan Army (AA) must end attacks on civilians, release everyone unlawfully detained, and provide redress or remedies to the victims. Both parties should cooperate fully with UN and other independent investigations.

Photo- Human Rights Watch

Two years after the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed group, killed and wounded hundreds of Rohingya Muslims and burned down their village in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, the survivors remain unable to return home, with many effectively detained, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on May 18, 2026.

The mass killing at Hoyyar Siri village (Burmese name: Htan Shauk Khan) in Buthidaung township involved grave violations of the laws of war amounting to war crimes, and the Arakan Army (AA) has rejected responsibility for the act.

The report, titled “‘Skeletons and Skulls Scattered Everywhere’: Arakan Army Massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Hoyyar Siri, Myanmar,” documents the May 2, 2024 attack.

In the attack, Arakan Army (AA) fighters deliberately fired on unarmed civilians who were seeking safety after the armed group advanced on two nearby bases of the Myanmar military junta. Details of this massacre only began emerging more than a year later, after some survivors fled to Bangladesh and Malaysia.

“The Arakan Army’s (AA) murder of hundreds of Rohingya civilians and the burning of their village in Rakhine State in 2024 took the armed conflict with Myanmar’s junta to a new level of depravity. Today, the massacre’s survivors are effectively detained under the control of the Arakan Army, which has neither provided redress nor held those responsible to account,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Human Rights Watch (HRW) interviewed several dozen witnesses and survivors, corroborated their accounts with satellite imagery, and analyzed and verified photographs and videos.

Hostilities between Myanmar junta forces and the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine State resumed in November 2023. Both sides are responsible for serious abuses, including targeted attacks on civilians, arson, and unlawful conscription.

According to HRW, the current findings contradict the Arakan Army’s (AA) claims in a letter sent to HRW that its fighters only targeted military personnel or members of Rohingya armed groups.

Arakan Army (AA) fighters first opened fire on a group of civilians leaving Hoyyar Siri village, some of whom were waving white flags.

“First, my son was hit by a bullet,” said a man who witnessed the event. “Then my wife and baby daughter (infant) were shot, followed by my other daughter.”

He further explained his experience, stating that the fighters continued to fire on the villagers as they turned back and attempted to flee.

One woman said the fighters gathered a group of villagers in a paddy field beside a mosque.

“Within minutes they opened fire at us randomly, without saying anything. No one was spared. My husband was hit by a bullet. When the Arakan Army (AA) saw he was still alive, they came closer, firing at him several more times,” she said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has compiled a list of over 170 villagers, including about 90 children, who were killed or are still missing after the Hoyyar Siri massacre. The actual death toll is likely much higher.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that it analyzed and verified photographs and videos showing human remains at three separate sites in the village.

At two of these sites, civilian clothing is visible among the human remains. Satellite imagery supports witness accounts that Arakan Army (AA) fighters set fire to Hoyyar Siri (Htan Shauk Khan) and, after taking control of the area, destroyed the entire village.

The fighters also robbed villagers of their cash and jewelry. One man detained by the Arakan Army (AA) said that he and other detainees were beaten and subjected to torture, including electric shocks.

Several witnesses also reported to HRW that fighters abducted Rohingya women and girls from the village.

In February 2025, the Arakan Army (AA) ordered all surviving Hoyyar Siri residents to relocate to a makeshift camp nearby.

Villagers who later managed to flee to Bangladesh told HRW that they were denied freedom of movement, subjected to forced labor, and faced severe shortages of food and medical care.

Some villagers told HRW that last August, the armed group organized a controlled media visit to Hoyyar Siri village, during which survivors were forced to provide false testimony to exonerate the Arakan Army (AA) from the killing of civilians.

Over the past decade, the Myanmar military junta has committed ethnic cleansing, genocidal acts, and other atrocities in Rakhine State that have forced over a million Rohingya to flee. The massacre in Hoyyar Siri (Htan Shauk Khan) underscores that returning to Rakhine State is still unsafe for Rohingya refugees, even in areas now controlled by the Arakan Army (AA).

The Myanmar military junta and the Arakan Army (AA) should immediately end attacks on civilians, release all civilians unlawfully detained, and provide redress to victims and their families, Human Rights Watch (HRW) demanded.

The Arakan Army (AA), in its letter to HRW, stated that it would facilitate inquiries by international human rights groups deemed credible and independent. HRW recommends that both parties cooperate fully with independent investigations, including granting access to the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), the United Nations special rapporteur on Myanmar, and human rights groups.

“Myanmar’s military seemed indifferent to the plight of the Rohingya civilians at Hoyyar Siri (Htan Shauk Khan) in 2024, and since then the junta has done nothing to address their broader human rights concerns. Concerned governments should urgently press both the Myanmar junta and the Arakan Army (AA) to respect the rights of all communities in Rakhine State,” Ganguly said.

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Photo - Human Rights Watch

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*(Note: This article is an adapted Burmese-to-English translation based on Human Rights Watch’s publication on May 18, 2026, titled "No Redress for Rohingya Muslims in Arakan Army Massacre: Hundreds Killed at Hoyyar Siri in 2024 Amid Military Indifference; Survivors Denied Return".)*

Junta-Backed Trafficking Gang Sparks Severe Safety Concerns Among Pathein Residents

Photo: CJ

Public Myanmar News , May 18, 2026.

By PM 02,

A junta-backed criminal gang in Pathein is sparking widespread fear among local families / after being exposed for detaining, torturing, and trafficking local youths under the guise of military conscription.

Local sources in Pathein, Ayeyarwady Region, report that a notorious gang led by Myo Tun and Zaw Zaw has been unlawfully abducting youths near the Shwe Wut Hmon railway station.

Photo- Social Media 
Zaw Zaw (Suspect)

While the gang claims to recruit for the military, they are actually trafficking the victims for financial profit—selling them directly to a former township deputy director, Tun Lin Aung.

On the evening of May 12, horrified residents witnessed the gang detaining and brutally assaulting two youths near the station.

According to locals, the network has expanded into recruiting collaborators from various wards, and is even targeting young women from local KTVs.

Photo- Social Media 
Myo Htun ( Suspect)

Despite the junta’s public claims of cracking down on human trafficking, residents point out that the military is covertly protecting the gang. The ringleader, Myo Tun, openly boasts about his close ties to the junta's regional prime minister.

With the gang operating with absolute impunity, families in Pathein are now living in constant fear for the safety of their children.

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Photo- Social Media 

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Military Tensions Rise at Chin-Magway Border as Junta Troops Mobilize from Saw toward Kanpetlet with Aerial Resupplies

Photo- CJ

Public Myanmar News, May 18, 2026.

By PM01,

Military tensions are escalating at the Chin-Magway border in the Yaw region. Military junta troops have launched a massive offensive and are reportedly advancing toward Kanpetlet Township in southern Chin State, according to military sources.

Junta troops stationed in Saw Township, Magway Region, began marching yesterday, May 17th, toward Kanpetlet—a town currently controlled by the Chin resistance forces. According to local source HKL Mindat, the column has already reached an area known locally as the "6-Mile" mark.

In response to the advancing troops, the Kanpetlet Township Humanitarian and Disaster Management Department has issued an urgent advisory, warning local residents to remain highly vigilant.

The advancing junta column is also receiving air support. Sources report that earlier this morning, a military Y-12 transport aircraft air-dropped nine bundles of ammunition and food supplies directly to the troops heading toward Kanpetlet.

Meanwhile, another junta column of about 60 soldiers from the Kyaukhtu-based Artillery Battalion 368 in Saw Township was also spotted on the move. 

According to local media Yaw Alinn Tann , this column was seen marching from Nga Lun Village toward Kyauk Ma Village at around 10:40 AM today.

This surge in military activity comes after the junta heavily reinforced Saw Township with fresh troops deployed from Laungshe over the past few days, triggering intense security concerns across the Chin-Magway border.

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Photo- CJ

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Global "PROOF OF LIFE" Campaigns Held across the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia Demanding Verification of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Well-being

Public Myanmar News , May 18, 2026.

By Saw Zin Maung,

Around 400 Myanmar expatriates gathered in front of the Houses of Parliament in London, UK, on May 17th. They launched the “PROOF OF LIFE” campaign, urgently demanding that the military junta provide credible proof that the detained popular leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, is alive and in good health.

The London rally was attended by her youngest son, Ko Htein Lin, also known as Kim Aris, alongside the National Unity Government’s representatives to the UK, U Maung Maung Aung and Dr. Thet Ko Ko. Representatives from ethnic communities and revolutionary families also joined the protest. 

Together, they demanded in-person family visitation for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, verifiable proof of her well-being, and urged international governments to increase pressure on the Myanmar military junta.

Similar protests echoed across Europe. In Berlin, Germany, the group "For Federal Myanmar (Berlin)" led Myanmar pro-democracy activists in their own “Proof of Life” rally on the exact same day.

Meanwhile, in the Hague, Netherlands, Myanmar expats gathered in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Parliament building. They pressured the Myanmar military to issue a guaranteed proof of life for the 81-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate and demanded the unconditional release of all political prisoners. 

The protesters explicitly called on the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to publicly back the demand for proof of life, include her situation in diplomatic dialogues, and stand firmly with the people of Myanmar.

At the same time, in Melbourne, Australia, the Myanmar diaspora united for a prayer session and rally, demanding the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners.

Ever since the military coup, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been kept in solitary confinement, completely cut off from the outside world. This total information blackout has raised severe worries about her health, not just for her son Kim Aris, but for millions of people worldwide.

This "Proof of Life" campaign originally kicked off on April 21st. Organizers continue to urge the public to voice their concerns on social media and call on their respective host governments to pressure the junta into providing verifiable proof of her safety.

Reporting for Public Myanmar News, this is the Special Intelligence Force.

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Photo- NUG-United Kingdom 

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