News Monitor #15
SEPTEMBER 2026

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NEWS ROUNDUP

• Junta efforts faltered in areas with renewed offensives, including Rakhine, Shan and Kachina States. Despite these setbacks, the junta's aerial dominance is devastating communities, including an airstrike on a densely populated area of Kyauktaw in Rakhine State killed at least 50 on September 28.

• In late September, Malaysia began the first stage of plans to repatriate approximately 5,000 Myanmar nationals with the deportation of over 1500 people.

• Min Aung Hlaing continued his outreach with ASEAN countries with visits to Cambodia and Vietnam in early September.

HUMAN RIGHTS & SECURITY

• Speaking at the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, UN human rights chief Volker Turk urged member states to refer the Myanmar situation to the International Criminal Court and end the transfers of arms, ammunition, jet fuel and dual-use items. Turk also commented that returns of Rohingya refugees would constitute refoulement given the unimproved conditions on the ground.

• Chinese-operated scam centers were relocated to areas of Karen State further from frontline areas and deeper into territory held by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), a junta-aligned militia. In Shan State, junta police arrested 13 scam operators, mostly Chinese nationals.

• High school students in Mandalay have been included in regime conscription lotteries, with local administrators threatening to arrest parents if the youth fail to present.

• The junta forced local aid groups to shut down in southern Shan State and arrested aid workers, leaving communities lacking vital supplies.

ARMED CONFLICT

• Chin State: The junta struggled to fully control towns it retook in recent offensives; according to the Chinland Council, resistance groups continue to control most of the territory. At the end of the month, fierce fighting broke out in the south as the junta reattempted to take back control. A reverend was killed by the junta, the third killing of a Chin pastor in the past 3.5 months; Christian groups sought U.S. intervention, viewing the incident as a sign of the junta’s escalating war on Christians. Dozens of junta prisoners of war escaped detention in a mass jailbreak.

• Mon State: The junta bombed the regional headquarters of the National Unity Government (NUG) located on the border of Kyaikto and Shwekyin, Bago Region, on September 24, killing six including a prominent junta defector.

• Kachin State: The strategic Hsinhkan Bridge was destroyed by a junta airstrike in Bhamo on September 5. On September 9, Kachin Independence Army (KIA) forces destroyed five junta vessels in Shwegu Township as they transported ammunition to Bhamo upstream. The vessels were among 15 originally comprising a supply flotilla; only one returned to Mandalay. Hundreds of junta troops surrendered when seven of the vessels were destroyed earlier in September. 

• Kayin/Karen State: The junta escalated its practice of conscription by abduction in Hpa-An; a small number of abductees were released after families paid large bribes.

• Kayah/Karenni State: A new round of heavy clashes broke out in Mobye and Demoso near the Shan border, with junta strikes increasingly targeting areas populated by civilians and displaced communities. Five Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) members were killed in Hpruso on September 17.

• Rakhine State: A devastating September 28 airstrike on a densely populated area in Kyauktaw killed at least 50, mostly or all civilians; the Arakan Army (AA) promised retaliatory measures. Around 1,000 junta troops launched Operation 4926 on September 4 to retake territory from the AA near the Sittwe-Ponnaygun border, but the offensive faltered with minimal gains after a few days of heavy fighting. The impact on civilians included mounting casualties and deaths in Gwa, Thandwe, Ponnaygun, and beyond. On September 17, the junta dropped 500-pound bombs in Mrauk-U.

• Shan State: On September 28, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) recaptured a junta hilltop base controlling strategic northern supply routes to Kachin and southern routes toward Mandalay. KIA-led forces also seized two bases belonging to the junta-aligned Shanni National Army (SNA).

• Ayeyarwaddy Division:  Two displaced Rakhine civilians were killed during a junta airstrike on September 4.

• Bago Division: The AA advanced on key junta weapons factories in early September, triggering heavy daily clashes. Junta attacks near the popular 115-mile rest stop killed seven and forced around 1,000 civilians to flee the area.

• Magway Division: Junta airstrikes killed five and displaced thousands in Pakokku Township following a resistance attack the first week of the month. On September 10, two AA commanders were killed in joint fighting with People’s Defense Force (PDF) allies in Mindon Township to thwart the junta’s renewed ground offensive toward Rakhine. Later, an entire junta column was wiped out in Mindon as the advance stalled. The regime destroyed a valuable oil well in resistance-held Myaing Township.

• Mandalay Division: On September 10, PDF forces struck a junta air base by drone located in Mandalay’s international airport. The PDF said the civilian wing of the airport was unaffected.

• Sagaing Division: Airstrikes near the Kachin border killed eight civilians on September 27 and 28. Despite no active fighting nearby, the junta dropped airstrikes that killed seven civilians in Ye U Township on September 7. Three other civilians were killed in Pale Township on September 15.

• Tanintharyi Division: Junta forces launched an intense riverine offensive in early September.

• Yangon: The junta again accelerated forced conscription through street-level arrests, causing fear in the city and leaving residents afraid to go outside at night, even for medical emergencies.

HUMANITARIAN, ECONOMIC & SOCIAL CONDITIONS

• Monsoon floods affected hundreds of thousands, causing displacement and public health concerns across the country, including for children in Sagaing. 

• In Rakhine, displaced communities in Sittwe went hungry due to aid shortages and junta blockades while the humanitarian crisis deepened along the conflict-affected border with Magway. 

• In Kachin, around 28,000 AIDS patients faced antiretroviral drug shortages due to supply chain interruptions and transportation difficulties. Malaria and flu cases also surged.

INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL AND
DIPLOMACY

• In the lead-up to the UN Credentials Committee’s annual meeting on member state representation, the junta announced its revocation of Permanent Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun’s status, though it officially dismissed him after the 2021 coup. However, such a post at the ⁠UN cannot be unilaterally revoked by military authorities without the consensus of the Credentials Committee (see PAEMA’s explainer)
  

• After months of detention on what are seen as trumped-up charges, former U.S.-Myanmar Chamber of Commerce president Adam Castillo was deported to the U.S. on September 16.
  

• Kelly Currie, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, outlined her operational priorities, including the escalation of armed conflict in recent months.
  

• On September 4, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing visited Cambodia’s leaders in an effort to continue outreach to ASEAN countries as it attempts to rebrand as a civilian government and gain international legitimacy. Min Aung Hlaing also visited Vietnam on September 5, forming a set of new agreements to deepen defense ties.
  

• Min Aung Hlaing gave his first-ever interview to a western publication, appearing on the cover of Time magazine on September 23.
  

• Bangladesh Foreign Minister and Rohingya policy architect Khalilur Rahman took the helm as President of the UN General Assembly’s 81st session.
  

• U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Meeks released a statement following the junta’s airstrike in Kyauktaw, strongly criticizing the U.S. administration's moves towards engaging the junta at a senior level.  
  

• Malaysia deported nearly 1,500 asylum-seeking Myanmar nationals by ship on September 29 including some Rohingya. Malaysia deported 102 Myanmar detainees days earlier.

ROHINGYA CRISIS

• On September 23, Bangladesh hosted a High-Level Week side event on the Rohingya crisis, with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman participating as the keynote speaker. Rahman proposed five priority areas for action, including early repatriation, civilian protection, humanitarian support, international accountability, and regional and international cooperation.

• Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim invited Min Aung Hlaing for an official visit to discuss Rohingya repatriation amid a quick recent surge in domestic backlash to Malaysia’s hosting of the refugee population. Over 160 civil society groups urged Malaysia not to deport Rohingya to unsafe conditions in Myanmar.

• Rohingya refugees sheltering in Jammu, India faced eviction amid a crackdown on illegal immigration.

DOMESTIC POLITICS AND DIALOGUE

• Ethnic armed groups (EAGs) rejected peace overtures from the junta, including a September 4 gesture to the prominent Kachin Independence Organization, seeing them as disingenuous and intended to divide the resistance movement. Elsewhere, peace talks continued between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the junta.

• Mon, Karen, and Pa-O youth leaders agreed to collaborate with broader resistance efforts and political processes.

• The Karenni State Consultative Council (KSCC) announced the appointment of Mu Angela as Chairperson on September 19, one of only a few women in high-level leadership positions within the resistance.

• The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) from Kokang in northern Shan participated in peace talks with the junta, reportedly following Chinese pressure.

BUSINESS AND TRADE

• Seventeen more garment factories in Yangon submitted plans to shut down operations amid dwindling orders and raw material shortages. International clients including H&M have stated for years that it was becoming too difficult to ensure their labor-rights standards.

ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES

• Crisis Group reported the reopening of the Man Maw tin mine in Wa-controlled territory near the Chinese border, reflecting rising tin demand for AI data center build-outs.

• The New Statesman journal reported that tin and tungsten mined in Tanintharyi were being purchased in large quantities by Chinese fraud gangs in money-laundering operations to convert scam center earnings.

• A new mechanized gold mining operation in Machanbaw Township, Kachin State caused severe pollution of a key local creek relied on by local communities and rendering it unusable.

REPORTING AND ANALYSIS

• A Crisis Group visual explainer describes global reliance on critical minerals extracted from war zones in Myanmar. An accompanying explainer looks at Myanmar’s new gold rush.

• The Economist reported on Myanmar’s resurgence as the world’s top producer of illicit opium.

• Justice for Myanmar reported that the junta was set to be invited to an ASEAN workshop on drone technology. The event was proposed by the U.S. as part of a counterterrorism cooperation framework with Singapore and Australia.

• A recent analysis by East Asia Forum examines the ways in which the junta is interfering with informal money systems, on which much of the population relies in the absence of formal banking access.

• A joint report by Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) and SAC-M, Navigating the Forthcoming ICJ Judgment in The Gambia v. Myanmar: A Roadmap for Member States, “explains what the ICJ can and cannot order; identifies plausible judgment scenarios; assesses the consequences for Myanmar and third states; and proposes practical steps before, during, and after the judgment.”

• A new report from Human Rights Watch details conditions for women political prisoners in Myanmar, subject to torture, sexual violence and denial of life-saving medical care.

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