Powerful earthquake rocks Myanmar and Thailand and kills more than 150 people

 https://apnews.com/article/thailand-earthquake-bangkok-4fce87aced74b1fc0cf260fb5454d353?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share

How Myanmar’s Civil War Could Actually End

How Myanmar’s Civil War Could Actually End

By By Koh Ewe

An explosion occurs during a bombardment carried out by Myanmar’s military in Lashio, the largest urban center to fall to any of Myanmar’s myriad ethnic minority armed groups who have been fighting the central authorities on and off for decades, in Myanmar’s northern Shan State on Sept. 24, 2024

www.time.com

https://time.com/7160736/myanmar-coup-civil-war-conflict-timeline-endgame-explainer/

How Myanmar’s Civil War Could Actually End

 

Opponents vow ‘beginning of the end’ for Myanmar’s junta as resistance launches nationwide offensive

 https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/28/asia/myanmar-nationwide-offensive-junta-intl-hnk

Opponents vow ‘beginning of the end’ for Myanmar’s junta as resistance launches nationwide offensive  

By Helen Regan, Salai TZ, Angus Watson and Paula Hancocks, CNN

Updated 3:29 AM EST, Tue November 28, 2023

CNN — 

Almost three years on from its bloody coup, Myanmar’s military junta is facing the biggest threat to its hold on power as it fights wars on multiple fronts across the Southeast Asian nation.

In recent weeks, powerful armed ethnic militias have joined with resistance forces to mount major new offensives with unprecedented coordination, exposing the limits of the deeply unpopular junta’s capabilities as it loses strategic border towns, key military positions and vital trade routes at a scale not seen in decades, according to experts.

“The junta is actively collapsing right now and that’s only become possible because there is this wider effort across the country,” said Matthew Arnold, an independent Myanmar analyst. ……………

Burmese army bombs Baptist Seminary, students hit by shrapnel

https://www.christianpost.com/news/burmese-army-bombs-baptist-seminary-students-hit-by-shrapnel.html

Burmese army bombs Baptist Seminary, students hit by shrapnel
 By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor 

https://cdn.christianpost.com/images/cache/image/14/37/143765_w_760_507.webp

Myanmar's military junta bombed a Baptist seminary in Shan State, injuring at least four men in the dormitory. 

The army, locally known as the Tatmadaw, shelled the Theological Seminary in the Kutkai area of Shan State on Thursday, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported.

Four men, aged between 21 and 27, were hit by shrapnel and sustained non-life-threatening injuries while they were in the dormitory of the school which the Kachin Baptist Convention founded.

Formerly known as Burma, the Southeast Asian country is home to the world’s longest Civil War, which began in 1948.

The conflict between the Tatmadaw and ethnic minority militias escalated after the February 2021 military coup, as the ethnic militias have been supporting pro-democracy protesters. The conflict zones are along Myanmar’s borders with India, Thailand and China.

A video posted to social media showed damage caused by the shelling. Visible holes and dents could be seen on the windows, walls and students' clothing. Another video showed an injured student being escorted out for medical treatment.

A local resident was quoted as saying that this kind of attack by the military threatens the Christian Bible school and the entire Kachin nation.

Christians make up just over 7% of the majority-Buddhist nation but are a majority in Chin State, which borders India, and Kachin State, which borders China. Christians also make up a substantial part of the population of Kayah State, which borders Thailand.

“The attack against this Kachin Bible school was certainly not an accident,” said Gina Goh, ICC’s regional manager for Southeast Asia. “Instead, the Tatmadaw deliberately targeted a Christian facility knowing how important the faith is to Kachin people. This despicable junta regime should not be tolerated any further by the international community and needs to be removed at once.”

The shelling of the Baptist seminary comes after a separate attack on Oct. 23 when at least 80 people, including leading Kachin musicians, were killed in the junta’s aerial bombing of a concert in Kachin State’s Hpaknat township, according to UCA News. The tragedy prompted many people to “black out their profile photo on Facebook to show sorrow for the victims and solidarity with ethnic Kachin people.

The concert was to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Kachin Independence Organization, the political wing of the Kachin Independence Army, which hundreds of people attended, including members of the KIA.

More than 2,400 people have been killed, and over 16,000 people have been jailed and tortured by the Tatmadaw, ICC noted.

In June, multiple reports, including by the U.N., revealed that Myanmar’s Buddhist nationalist junta had disproportionately targeted religious minorities, including Christians, and brutally attacked and killed hundreds of children since the military coup.

Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said in a report at the time that “the junta’s relentless attacks on children underscore the generals’ depravity and willingness to inflict immense suffering on innocent victims in its attempt to subjugate the people of Myanmar.”

Focusing on the killing of children, the U.N. rapporteur said during his fact-finding for the report, “I received information about children who were beaten, stabbed, burned with cigarettes, and subjected to mock executions, and who had their fingernails and teeth pulled out during lengthy interrogation sessions.”

Since the coup, the military had killed at least 142 children in Myanmar, the U.N. report added.

Myanmar military takes control of country after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar military takes control of country after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi 

BBC News

Myanmar's military has taken control of the country after Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders were arrested in the early hours.

Hours after the arrests, military TV confirmed a state of emergency had been declared for one year.

The coup comes after tensions rose between the civilian government and the military following a disputed election.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, was ruled by the military until democratic reforms began in 2011.

The military said on Monday it was handing power to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing. Soldiers are on the streets of the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, and the main city, Yangon.

In November's election, Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won enough seats to form a government. The army says the vote was fraudulent.

• Aung San Suu Kyi: Democracy icon who fell from grace
• What you need to know about the Rohingya crisis

The BBC's South East Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head, says the coup appears to be a clear violation of the constitution drafted by the military more than a decade ago, and which it promised to honour only on Saturday.

Detaining political leaders like Ms Suu Kyi is a provocative and very risky move, one which may well be strongly opposed, our correspondent says.

.......

Military chief Min Aung Hlaing has taken the reigns

Francis Chan's Final Message To America

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Former Special Forces Captain, now aid worker, David Eubank, with his wife and 3 children, serve on the border in Burma’s 60-year civil war, equipping Hill Tribe peoples. Invited to Iraq, their team’s daring rescues of ISIS captives in Mosul captured the world’s attention.
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“My Dad always tells us, ‘Be bold in the things of God; humble in the things of yourself.’” recounts daughter Sahale.