Key facts
- Myanmar's military is conducting an offensive in the southern Tanintharyi Region.
- The offensive is focused on areas designated for the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
- The Dawei SEZ project includes a planned deep-sea port and power plant.
- Myanmar's military-backed government is using force to revive the project.
- Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing discussed the Dawei project with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- Hundreds of soldiers have been deployed since July, leading to skirmishes with local resistance groups.
Myanmar's military is intensifying its operations in the southern Tanintharyi Region, targeting areas designated for the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and a planned deep-sea port. This offensive, which has involved burning villages and displacing communities, aims to clear the land for a project that the military-backed government is seeking to revive with potential Russian investment. Junta chief-turned-President Min Aung Hlaing has actively promoted the Dawei SEZ, discussing its potential as a gateway to South and West Asia during a visit to Thailand in August and again in recent talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Since July, hundreds of soldiers have been deployed to the region, leading to clashes with local resistance groups. Reports indicate that villages have been torched and civilians killed. Three aid workers supporting displaced communities were reportedly detained and killed by a military column in Yebyu Township on July 9. The Myanmar government and Russia's embassy in Myanmar did not respond to requests for comment on these developments. A conflict monitor, ACLED, noted in an August report that approximately 700 soldiers have been advancing into surrounding areas, raiding villages and killing civilians, following a late-June visit by armed forces deputy chief Kyaw Swar Lin who urged soldiers to protect strategic projects like Dawei.