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$$PLAIN_TEXT_PREVIEW$$
News Monitor #6
DECEMBER 2025
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NEWS ROUNDUPThe junta, which controls only 20 percent of Myanmar’s territory, organized general elections held on December 28. The process is widely seen as a sham designed to bolster international legitimacy for the regime. For updates and analysis on the elections, visit the Sham Election Tracker.
On December 10, Human Rights Day, a military airstrike hit Mrauk-U General Hospital, killing and injuring dozens. The attack marked one of the deadliest attacks on healthcare in Myanmar.
There were 119 airstrikes throughout the country in December, causing 176 fatalities and more than 300 injuries.
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HUMAN RIGHTS & SECURITYThe weeks leading up to the elections were marked by intensified violence against civilians, including airstrikes and shellings, arbitrary arrests, and raids. The violence mirrored the junta’s reliance on repressive tactics to silence dissent and anti-election activism.
In its latest opium survey, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found that Myanmar’s opium poppy cultivation was at a ten-year peak.
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ARMED CONFLICTChin State: The junta launched heavy airstrikes in Kanpetlet Township on December 9; there were no known civilian casualties. Citing a mass exodus of the Paletwa Township population, the Chinland Defence Force - Paletwa (CDF), an anti-junta resistance group, barred youth from leaving the area amid recruitment drives, according to Khonumthung News, and aims to intended to “involve Chin youths more actively in the revolution.” Mon State: In early December, Myanmar military units accelerated troop movements in parts of Ye Township where resistance groups remained in firm control, with reports of assaults on villagers. Two fighters from the Mon State Revolutionary Force (MSRF) were killed during clashes that ensued on December 22. Kachin State: Fighting between the Kachin Independence Arm (KIA) and junta forces was reported across the state, including on the Mogok-Momeik Road and in Bhamo Township, where battles for territorial control have been waged for a full year. Kayin/Karen State: Fighting spilled over the Thailand border, where at least nine houses in Mae Sot were damaged by shrapnel. In a separate incident, at least 20 Myanmar military soldiers were injured, prompting the military to repurpose a cleared scam center building as a makeshift field hospital. Karen National Union (KNU) troops remained in control of their positions in the area. On December 21, junta jets bombed the empty Chaungwa Village in KNU-controlled Kyaikto Township. Kayah/Karenni State: Artillery shells landed in Loikaw town on Election Day, December 28, killing one and injuring two. Artillery was fired in other areas with no reported casualties. Rakhine State: An airstrike by the Myanmar military destroyed a hospital in Mrauk-U Township on December 10, Human Rights Day, killing 34 patients and medical staff and injuring over 80. Airstrikes also hit northern Maungdaw, Ngapali, Kyaukphyu, Sittwe, Pauktaw Ponnagyun, and Thandwe, causing fatalities, injuries, and damaging houses. Shan State: Clashes took place in the north; abductions, disappearances, arson, and explosions in urbanized areas were reported around the state. Intensified military patrols sparked fears among civilians in Taunggyi. Ayarwaddy Division: Heavy fighting was ongoing between the AA and the Myanmar military in Laymyethna and Thabaung townships, reportedly causing numerous casualties within Myanmar forces but with limited impact on civilians. Bago Division: On December 16, People’s Defence Force (PDF) troops seized a junta post in Letpadan Township, killing 18 Myanmar military troops. Other clashes occurred in Letpadan and Nattalin Townships. The AA engaged in battle with Myanmar military troops on December 23, killing one high-ranking officer. Magway Division: AA-military clashes escalated as the junta launched a major offensive to retake territory in Ngaphe Township. PDF battalions launched attacks in at least six townships on Election Day, December 28. Clashes erupted near junta weapons factories. Mandalay Division: Intense fighting continued, including many clashes instigated by homegrown PDF fighters in Mogok, where the junta retook control under the China-brokered ceasefire agreement with the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in October. Sagaing Division: On December 5, junta forces launched airstrikes on a teashop, killing 18 civilians who had gathered to watch a football match on television. An unknown group carried out a drone attack in Katha Township on December 28, reportedly preventing election officials from counting ballots. The junta launched a major new offensive on the west bank of the Irrawaddy River near Wetlet Township on December 23 after recapturing Singu town on December 19. Tanintharyi Division: On December 31, drone attacks by resistance groups damaged junta offices and caused civilian casualties. Clashes between junta and resistance forces were reported in Ye Phyu and Launglone Townships, killing and injuring multiple civilians.
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HUMANITARIAN, ECONOMIC & SOCIAL CONDITIONSThe UN published the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan and warned that more than 16 million people throughout Myanmar will require life-saving assistance and protection in 2026 - over one-third of the population. The UN only raised about one quarter of the funds required for the 2025 humanitarian plan.
The World Bank stated that Myanmar’s economy showed some signs of improvement, but projected that real GDP would contract by 2 percent in the fiscal year ending in March 2026 and that inflation would remain above 20 percent.
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U.S. INTERNATIONAL & REGIONAL
POLITICS DIPLOMACYMany governments criticized the national elections as a sham process designed to secure greater legitimacy for the junta.
In the U.S., a bipartisan group of lawmakers condemned the elections and urged President Trump to follow suit, but the White House refrained.
On December 22, the UN Security Council held a closed door meeting on Myanmar with ASEAN Special Envoy Othman Hashim and the UN Special Envoy Julie Bishop briefing. In a media stakeout, the UK Ambassador to the UN said, “elections under current circumstances risk provoking further violence and make a long-term solution more elusive.”
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ROHINGYA CRISISA Myanmar Lieutenant General linked to Rohingya atrocities lost his bid for a parliamentary seat in Shan State.
Forced recruitment campaigns by the Arkan Army were reportedly underway in Rakhine State, and PAEMA contacts shared that parallel efforts by Rohingya armed groups were ramping up in the Bangladesh camps.
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DOMESTIC POLITICSDecember 28, polls took place for the initial phase of the first elections to be held since the junta seized power in the February 2021 military coup. Turnout was low, no polls were held in numerous parts of the country, and the elections were widely condemned as illegitimate, with numerous irregularities monitored by the Sham Election Tracker initiative.
The junta’s Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won 89 of 102 seats contested in the first phase; two more phases will follow in January. Small ethnic parties won the remaining seats contested in December.
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BUSINESS, TRADE & NATURAL RESOURCESActivists and local communities protested news that the Myitsone hydropower dam project would be renewed in Kachin State. The China-backed project was announced in 2009 but suspended in 2011 after widespread objections due to environmental risks.
A Yale Environment 360 report explores the environmental toll wrought by the illicit mining of rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium in conflict-affected regions of northern Shan State, near the China border.
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