Deadly Army-Paramotors Killing Civilians in Myanmar

             (Based on staff post from various sources in January-February 2025.)      

Paramotors are engine-assisted Para-gliders for thrill-seekers all over the world. But the evil Myanmar Army has reinvented them as efficient killing machines like what HAMAS animals did during the infamous October-7 attack on Israel last year. These machines are now killing hundreds and hundreds of innocent civilians all over Myanmar, the darkest hellhole on earth.

Myanmar Military expands use of deadly paramotors in aerial campaign: In January, the military intensified its aerial campaign against resistance forces and civilians, increasingly deploying paramotors alongside air and drone strikes.

ACLED (The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project) records eight paramotor attacks across Taungtha, Paletwa, and Sagaing townships, resulting in nine reported civilian deaths. Airstrikes also reportedly killed over 150 civilians.

China Warned Airlines Flying Over Tasman Sea

               (Rod McGuirk’s post from the AP NEWS on 21 February 2025.)       

China issued ‘disconcerting’ warning of live-fire exercises to planes flying above, Australia says: Airliners were over the Tasman Sea crossing between Australia and New Zealand when the Chinese navy warned they were flying over a secret live-fire exercise, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Friday.

Regulator Airservices Australia warned commercial pilots of a potential hazard in airspace between the countries as three Chinese warships conducted live-frie exercises off the Australian east coast. But Marles said Australian authorities only learned about China’s live-firing plans in international waters midway between Australia and New Zealand from the airlines.

“To be clear, we weren’t notified by China,” Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio in Perth. “What China did was put out a notification that it was intending to engage in live firing. By that, I mean a broadcast that was picked up by airlines or literally ... commercial planes that were flying across the Tasman,” Marles said. “This was very disconcerting for the planes that were flying,” he added.

Yangon Blackouts? Blame The Fucking Dictator!

              (Htet Khaing Min’s post from the EURASIA REVIEW on 14 February 2025.)       

Blackout Nation: How Myanmar’s Energy Crisis Is Crippling Lives – Analysis: In Myanmar, darkness no longer just falls after sunset—it has become an everyday reality, an uninvited guest that lingers well beyond nightfall.

Key Takeaways: Severe Power Shortages Cripple Myanmar – Blackouts for up to 20 hours disrupt businesses, healthcare, and daily life, worsening economic hardships. Gas Dependency and Infrastructure Damage – Failing gas plants, stalled solar projects, and grid attacks force reliance on costly alternatives. Urgent Reforms Needed – Expanding renewables, repairing infrastructure, and improving governance are crucial for energy stability.

As the country grapples with one of its most severe power shortages in decades, the lights of progress have flickered and dimmed under the shadow of the military junta’s regime. With rolling blackouts, widespread infrastructure damage, and a fractured power grid, Myanmar’s citizens find themselves in the dark—literally and figuratively.

Yangon is Fucked: Dictator Cuts Off The Electricity

                         (AFP article from the FRANCE-24 on 02February 2025.)       

Seeking light in dark times four years after Myanmar coup: Power outages are common in his township, a result of rolling blackouts scheduled by the junta government as it battles for control of areas seized by rebel groups.

Aung Bo Bo, another Yangon resident, bemoaned the power cut timetable that can see houses plunged into darkness 12 hours a day. He has to wake up at midnight to cook and pump water when the electricity comes on, he told AFP. "We're getting no sleep," he said.

Yin Kay Thwe, an office worker in Yangon, said the situation is especially difficult for families with children. It would be better for power cuts to happen during office hours, she told AFP, not in the evenings until past midnight. "How can we live with that?" she said.

Battle for Irrawaddy Delta: UK Issues Travel Warning

              (Based on staff posts from the Myanmar Now Media on 23 January 2025.)       

On January 22, the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) of British Foreigne Affairs Ministry issued a travel warning to UK citizens not to travel to the townships of Kyan-gin, Myan-aung, Ingapu, Lay-myack-nhar, Yay-gyi, Thar-baung, and Bassein in the Irrawaddy Division of Myanmar.

FCDO now advises against all but essential travel to the townships of Kyangin, Myanaung, Ingapu, Lemyethna, Yegyi, Thabaung and Pathein in Ayeyarwady region which lie along the border with Rakhine State.

FCDO announced the travel warning after the severe fightings broke out between Myanmar Army and Arakan Army (AA) in the coastal areas of Irrawaddy Division next to the Rakhine state. AA already has basically wiped-out Myanmar Army in the Arakan State and now rapidly advancing together with allied Burmese PDF troops into the Irrawaddy Division.

Dictator’s Wife, Her Expensive Handbags & Dead Soldiers

                (Based on Aung Thuya’s post from the IRRAWADDY on 15 January 2025.)       

Foolish Myanmar Army has a brutal habit of not acknowledging its fallen soldiers as KIAs (Killed-in-Action) but as MIAs (Missing-in-Action) for two nasty reasons. One is to save face by not openly admitting so many Myanmar soldiers are being killed daily in the nation-wide civilwar battles.

Other lucrative reason is a financial as the corrupt paymasters are still drawing the dead soldiers’ pays and pocketing it, and as the brutal excuse for the army’s compulsory life-insurance company Aung-Myint-Mo-Min (conveniently owned by Myanmar Dictator MAH’s son Aung-pyae-sone) not to pay out death benefits to the families left behind.

Every service member must contribute a large monthly life-insurance premium taken out automatically from their monthly salaries and sent to the Aung-Myint-Mo-Min Insurance. When they are Killed-In-Actions they are supposed to get back their contributions plus death benefits but if they are reported as MIA they will not. 

Trump 2.0 is Back with Vengeance!

               (Luke Cooper’s post from the ABC NEWS AUS on21 January 2025.)      

Some January 6 offenders could be freed within hours: Earlier my colleague Andrew Thorpe reported that Donald Trump said during his latest speech that he plans to issue pardons for at least some of those convicted over the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol — who he refers to as "hostages".

"Tonight, I'm going to be signing on the J6 hostages' pardons to get them out," he says, prompting a massive round of applause. As soon as I leave I'm going to the Oval Office and will be signing pardons for a lot of people."

Reuters is now reporting that an official from the US Federal Bureau of Prisons says it is "possible" that some of the January 6 offenders will be released within hours. Despite that, no formal paperwork has been received to authorise the order. Donald Trump has just walked back into the White House, for the first time in his second term as president.

Foolish Myanmar Army in their Death Throes?

             (Dr. Zachary Abuza’s opinion post from the RFA MYANMAR on 18 January 2025.)

Myanmar military regime enters year 5 in terminal decline: The junta still holds a third of Myanmar, and two-thirds of the population, but misrule has left the regime broke. Myanmar’s military approaches the fourth anniversary of the coup d’etat that put them in power in terminal decline.

The economy continues to atrophy, with even more pronounced energy shortages, less foreign exchange, and an even larger share of the budget allocated to the military. The battlefield losses are staggering, as the opposition has withstood Chinese pressure to stop their offensives, and continues to hand the over-stretched military defeat after defeat. Opposition forces now control two of the 14 military regional commands.

According to the National Unity Government (NUG) Ministry of Defense, the opposition is in full control of 95 of 330 townships, while the State Administrative Council (SAC), as the junta calls itself, had full control over 107 townships. By the junta’s own admission, they are only able to conduct a census and safely organize elections in 161 of Myanmar’s 330 townships.

AA Attacking Shwe-Thaung-Yan Town Near Bassein

                  (Khian Lu Hla’s post from the NARINJARA NEWS on 11 January 2025.)      

AA and Allied PDF Forces Capture Ma Gyi Zin Village Near Shwe Thaung Yan, Pathein Township, Ayeyarwady Region: The Arakan Army (AA) and its allied troops launched an attack along the coastline into Pathein Township, seizing the Ma Gyi Zin village on the evening of January 9, according to a local military source.

“Ma Gyi Zin is a sizable village with a cottage hospital. This evening, the AA assumed control. Crossing the bridge at Ma Gyi Zin takes you to Baw Mi. The junta troops are holding out in the villages, yet we are observing them retreating village by village," the military source stated.

Crossing the Ma Gyi Zin Bridge leads to Baw Mi, and from Baw Mi, AA troops can reach famous Shwe Thaung Yan. Intense combat also erupted in Kular Chaung in Shwe Thaung Yan Town, as the junta mobilized the army, navy, and air force for assaults.