The 69-year-old secured the presidency following a parliamentary vote broadcast live from Naypyitaw, where lawmakers aligned with the army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party and constitutionally mandated military appointees ensured a decisive outcome.

His elevation follows elections held in December and January that delivered a sweeping victory to the military-backed party, polls widely criticized by Western governments and opposition groups as lacking credibility and designed to entrench military rule under a civilian façade.

Min Aung Hlaing, who has led Myanmar’s armed forces since 2011, recently oversaw a leadership reshuffle within the military, appointing loyalist Ye Win Oo as commander-in-chief after being nominated for the presidency earlier this week. Analysts view the transition as a calculated move to retain influence over both civilian and military institutions while seeking greater international legitimacy.

The general seized power in the February 2021 coup, detaining Suu Kyi and other senior leaders, an event that triggered mass protests and evolved into an entrenched civil war involving pro-democracy forces and ethnic armed groups.

Despite the formal political transition, fighting continues across multiple regions. This week, anti-junta factions, including elements linked to Suu Kyi’s political movement and ethnic militias, announced the formation of a broader alliance aimed at dismantling military rule and establishing a federal democratic system.

Analysts say the consolidation of power under Min Aung Hlaing could lead to intensified military operations against resistance forces, while also prompting regional actors to reassess diplomatic engagement with Myanmar’s leadership amid ongoing instability and economic strain.

The refugees, who arrived at various parts of the province including Bireuen, Pidie and East Aceh, have overwhelmed local facilities, Munawaratul Makhya, a UNHCR official, told Reuters.

“Since their arrival early this morning, we have coordinated with local officials in Pidie region to ensure the refugees are getting their basic needs, since they have been floating for many days on the sea,” the official said.

She said the location where they were being accommodated in Pidie was overflowing with the fresh arrivals and the UNHCR was waiting for the government to provide bigger temporary shelters to house them.

Hundreds of Muslim Rohingya have arrived in Aceh province in recent days, taking the total there to more than a thousand, continuing a migration which has for several years seen Rohingyas escaping from Myanmar to Muslim-majority Bangladesh, or by rickety wooden boats to Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as Thailand.

Almost 1 million Rohingya are living in camps in Bangladesh in what U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi described as “the biggest humanitarian refugee camp in the world”.

Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said the Southeast Asian country “has no obligation nor capacity to accommodate refugees, let alone to provide a permanent solution”.

Jakarta is not a signatory of the UN refugee convention.

Earlier this week, 43 Myanmar soldiers entered India’s Mizoram state after their military bases were overrun by the rebels. Nearly 40 were sent back by Indian authorities through a different border crossing point a few hundred kms east.

Myanmar’s military has battled ethnic minority and other insurgencies for decades but a 2021 coup has brought unprecedented coordination between anti-military forces that are mounting the biggest challenge to the army in years.

The country’s military rulers have ordered all government staff and those with military experience to prepare to serve in case of emergency, Tin Maung Swe, secretary of an administrative council in the capital, Naypyitaw said on Thursday, after the junta reported “heavy assaults” in several places.

“If necessary, such a unit might be required to go out and serve for natural disasters, and security,” the junta’s council said in an order.

Tin Maung Swe confirmed the order while stressing that the situation in the capital, in central Myanmar, was calm.

“This is the plan to help in the event of an emergency,” he told Reuters.

A parallel government formed by pro-democracy politicians to oppose the military, and allied with some insurgent factions, has launched a “Road to Naypyitaw” campaign which it says is aimed at taking control of the capital.

Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said late on Wednesday the military was facing “heavy assaults from a significant number of armed rebel soldiers” in Shan State in the northeast, Kayah State in the east and Rakhine State in the west.

Zaw Min Tun said some military positions had been evacuated and the insurgents had been using drones to drop hundreds of bombs on military posts.

“We are urgently taking measures to protect against drone bomb attacks effectively,” the junta spokesperson said.

UN Concern

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the 2021 coup, when the military ousted a government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, ending a decade of tentative democratic reform.

The military ruled Myanmar with an iron fist for 50 years after seizing power in 1962, insisting it was the only institution capable of holding the diverse country together.

The 2021 coup dashed hopes for reform and triggered a groundswell of opposition that has united pro-democracy activists in towns and cities with ethnic minority forces fighting for self-determination in hinterlands.

Clashes have sent refugees into all of Myanmar’s neighbours, including thousands who fled into India in recent days from fighting in Chin State in the northwest.

Lalmalsawma Hnamte, a state police official in Mizoram’s Vamphai district, where the latest 29 Myanmar soldiers entered India from the Tuibal military base in Chin state, said the soldiers were handed over to the federal paramilitary border guarding force.

Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that New Delhi was “deeply concerned” about the situation along the border.

He reiterated New Delhi’s position, asking for a cessation of violence and resolution of the situation through dialogue.

Western governments have re-imposed sanctions on the Myanmar junta in response to the coup and crackdowns on protests and demanded the release of Suu Kyi and other pro-democracy politicians and activists.

Myanmar’s Southeast Asian neighbours have tried to encourage a peace process but the generals have largely ignored their efforts.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres was deeply concerned by the “expansion of conflict in Myanmar” and called for all parties to protect civilians, a spokesperson said.

“The number of displaced people in Myanmar now exceeds two million,” the spokesperson said.

The Arakan Army (AA) rebel group fighting for autonomy in Rakhine State said on Wednesday that dozens of police and military men had surrendered or been captured as its forces advanced.

The junta spokesperson denounced the group saying it was “destroying” Rakhine State.

Separately, a video posted on social media by anti-military forces in Kayah State, and verified by Reuters, showed wounded junta troops surrendering to insurgents, who were seen offering medical help.

(This story has been refiled to fix the word order in paragraph 1

Most of the nearly 5,000 Myanmar nationals who had fled to India to escape intense fighting between the rebels and Myanmar military since early Monday morning had returned home as the situation calmed down, local leaders said.

Rebel forces intend to take control of part of the porous border with India.

Myanmar’s generals are facing their biggest test since they seized power in a 2021 coup after three ethnic minority forces launched a coordinated offensive in late October, capturing some towns and military posts.

The offensive, named by rebels as “Operation 1027” after the date it began, initially made inroads in junta-controlled areas on the border with China in Shan State, where military authorities have lost control of several towns and more than 100 security outposts.

Since then, fighting has spread to two new fronts in the western states of Rakhine and Chin.

While calm had largely returned to the serene valley along the Indo-Myanmar border on Wednesday afternoon, air raid sirens could be heard in India’s Zokhawthar village from the Myanmar side warning residents of potential strikes by the military.

Surrounded by lush green hills, the Chin flag was hoisted on a gate that welcomed visitors to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar at the Zokhawthar border crossing.

India’s paramilitary Assam Rifle and armed rebels on the Myanmar side guarded the two ends of the border bridge over Tiau river, which people crossed freely on Wednesday.

A source in the Chinland Defence Force group said it would guard the border with two other rebel groups – the People’s Defence Force and the Chin National Army. “We will also guard another strategic locations nearby,” he said.

Ramtharnghaka, President of the local Zokhawthar chapter of the civil society group Young Mizo Association, said that most the Myanmar nationals who had crossed over were from nearby towns.

“While some stayed at a community hall, others were taken in by their friends and relatives,” he said, adding that most had now gone back.

Among those fleeing the attacks near Zokhawthar on Monday were 43 Myanmar soldiers who escaped the surprise attack by the rebels and entered India.

The Indian authorities eventually sent most of them back by flying them to another border crossing point a few hundred km east.

Dozens of rebels battled the Myanmar military from dawn to dusk on Monday to overrun two camps abutting India’s Mizoram state, as part of a widening offensive against the junta-led administration, Chin National Front (CNF) Vice Chairman Sui Khar said.

Spokespersons for Myanmar’s junta and India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Myanmar’s military leadership is facing its biggest test since taking power in a 2021 coup after three ethnic minority forces launched a coordinated offensive in late October, capturing some towns and military posts.

The offensive, named by rebels as “Operation 1027” after the date it began, initially made inroads in junta-controlled areas on the border with China in Shan State, where military authorities have lost control of several towns and over 100 military outposts.

“We are continuing our attacks in northern Shan State,” said Kyaw Naing, a spokesperson for the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, which is part of the operation.

Fighting also erupted on two new fronts this week, in the western states of Rakhine and Chin, which sent thousands of people fleeing to Mizoram.

Some 80 rebels mounted attacks on Rihkhawdar and Khawmawi military camps in Chin at around 4 a.m. on Monday, eventually taking control of both outputs after several hours of fighting, Sui Khar said.

Following the battle, 43 Myanmar soldiers surrendered to Indian police and are currently sheltering in Mizoram, local police official Lalmalsawma Hnamte said.

“Whether they will be pushed back or not, we are waiting for further instructions from the central government,” he told Reuters.

India’s federal home ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sui Khar and the Chin Human Rights Organization said they believed some of these soldiers may have been involved in atrocities against civilians.

Chin rebels will now look to consolidate their control along the India-Myanmar border, where the Myanmar military has two more camps, Sui Khar said.

“We’ll move forward,” he told Reuters, “Our tactic is from the village to the town to the capital.” Chin State, which had been largely peaceful for years, saw fierce fighting after the 2021 coup by junta leaders with thousands of residents taking up arms, many of them assisted and trained by the CNF.

The Chin rebellion was backed by locals in Mizoram, in part due to close ethnic ties, and tens of thousands of people from Myanmar sought shelter in the small Indian state, including ousted state and federal lawmakers.

Tanks On The Streets

A resident in Rakhine’s capital Sittwe and social media posts said that tanks had been seen on the streets of the city following the eruption of fighting in the western state.

The junta has imposed a curfew in Sittwe and residents have been ordered not to leave their homes after 9 p.m. and businesses must close by 8.30pm or face legal action, according to a government document and media reports.

“We saw tanks going around the town. Many shops are closed today,” a resident told Reuters, declining to be named for security reasons.

“The schools are open but families did not send their kids to school today.”

Fighting was occurring across Rakhine state, according to two residents and a spokesperson for the Arakan Army (AA), a group fighting for greater autonomy that has seized military posts in Rathedaung and Minbya towns.

A Rathedaung resident told Reuters on Tuesday the area came under artillery fire overnight and that military soldiers had entered the town.

“Artillery fell on a street in Rathedaung town last night. No immediate report of injured or casualties yet,” said the resident, who asked not to be identified.

“People have started fleeing the town. Soldiers are in the town now.”

The country’s military-appointed president last week said Myanmar was at risk of breaking apart because of an ineffective response to the rebellion – the most significant fight back since the 2021 coup deposed the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The generals say they are fighting “terrorists”.

The jet went down over Kayah State in eastern Myanmar, near the border with Thailand, on Saturday during fighting between the military and the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), which said it shot down the plane.

Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told state-run MRTV the jet crashed due to a technical problem and the pilots had ejected safely and were in contact with the military.

The incident comes as Myanmar’s military battles opposition forces on multiple fronts, as ethnic minority forces and anti-junta militias mount a rebellion that security analysts say is being carried out with an unprecedented level of coordination.

The military-installed president last week said Myanmar was at risk of breaking apart due to the failure to deal with the insurgency more effectively.

Conflict in Shan State, in the northeast bordering China, has displaced at least 50,000 people, with trade routes cut off and several towns seized since an anti-junta offensive launched last month by three ethnic minority insurgent groups.

China has called for all sides to cease hostilities.

The insurgent alliance says it has seized more than 100 army posts. Assaults on towns have also taken place in Sagaing region, in central Myanmar, west of Shan State.

Hundreds of foreign workers, many of whom rights activists say are victims of human trafficking, are trapped by the fighting, including citizens of Vietnam and of Thailand.

The Thai foreign ministry said on Saturday 200 of its nationals were waiting to be evacuated “as soon as possible when the situation permits”.

The KNDF said on its Facebook page it shot down the jet on Saturday using heavy machine guns and its members were searching for the pilots.

Reuters could not verify the information.

News outlet Mizzima on its Facebook page posted images of what it said were the abandoned helmet and parachute of one of the pilots.

The attack was one of the deadliest on civilians since the military seized power in a 2021 coup, which triggered conflict with a resistance movement and armed ethnic groups across the country.

The shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and the British Embassy in Yangon blamed the military for the shelling, which took place close to midnight on Monday in Kachin State.

A spokesperson for the junta said the military was not responsible.

“We are investigating. We always take care of border peace situation,” Zaw Min Tun said, adding that the explosion may have involved an ethnic rebel group’s own munitions.

Sources said artillery hit a camp for internally displaced people about 5 km (3 miles) from a base in the town of Laiza run by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which has been in conflict with Myanmar’s military for years.

About 30 people were killed, according to sources and media. A spokesperson for the KIA called it a “massacre against our ethnic people”, according to Myanmar Now.

The NUG condemned what it called a vicious attack on civilians and said the world must put Myanmar’s generals on trial.

“This act of military council is war crime and crime against humanity,” NUG spokesperson Kyaw Zaw said, adding an attack at the border with China showed the junta did not respect its neighbour’s demand for peace and stability.

The British Embassy also blamed the military for the strike, adding it “must stop its brutal campaign against the Myanmar people”.

China’s foreign ministry called on “relevant parties to resolve disputes peacefully, … avoid escalation, and take practical and effective measures to ensure the security of the China-Myanmar border”.

Rows Of Graves

Laiza sits close to the Chinese border and is home to many civilians living in displacement camps in and around the town. The UN says more than a million people have been displaced by the conflict in Myanmar.

A student activist currently in Laiza said the whole town was “shaken” by the explosion and residents were evacuating.

“We are on alert because we worry that there can be second bomb attack,” said Justin, who declined to provide a last name. “The locals are worried about that and so people are relocating now.”

Photographs shared with and verified by Reuters showed residents in Laiza preparing to bury dozens of victims in coffins laid out next to rows of freshly dug graves.

Kachin media shared a series of graphic images on Facebook of destruction, which could not immediately be verified by Reuters. One showed casualties on the floor, another more than a dozen body bags lined up.

Others showed men in military dress sifting through wreckage and a man carrying the body of a small child.

The incident was the deadliest since an air strike in Myanmar’s volatile Sagaing region in April that killed scores of people including civilians.

Khon Ja, an activist with the Kachin Peace Network Civil society group, told Reuters she had visited the local hospital and was told 29 people were dead and 59 wounded.

“The bomb was too strong … the village was totally destroyed and disappeared,” she said.

With this new funding, the United States’ total assistance for those affected by the crisis in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the region totals more than $2.2 billion since August 2017, when over 740,000 Rohingya fled genocide, Blinken said

U.N. Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews, a former member of the U.S. Congress, also said it was vital for Washington to at least maintain levels of humanitarian support for victims of the junta inside and outside Myanmar.

Andrews told a hearing of the U.S. Congress’s Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission he was “alarmed” by reports that some donors, including the U.S., might reduce support for Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar and said a Joint Response Plan that includes food rations for Rohingya children in Bangladesh was only 32% funded so far this year.

Andrews praised Washington for imposing sanctions on the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank in Jlune, but said more needed to be done.

“We need to have more sanctions imposed… I urge the U.S. to join the European Union and immediately impose sanctions on the junta’s single largest source of revenue, the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise,” Andrews said.

“If you can stop the money, you can cut their ability to continue these atrocities,” he said referring to civilian deaths at the hands of the military.

Andrews also urged Washington to work with other countries to block the junta’s access to weapons.

Last month, Washington expanded its sanctions against Myanmar to include foreign companies or individuals helping the junta to procure jet fuel it uses to launch air strikes, while estimating that the military had killed more than 3,900 civilians since taking power in a 2021 coup.

In January, the United States targeted the managing director and deputy managing director of the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise with sanctions, but has yet to go further against the firm, despite the urgings of rights groups and dissidents.

Myanmar military officials have played down the impact of sanctions and say their air strikes target insurgents.

Andrews said in a May report that Myanmar’s military had imported at least $1 billion in arms and other material since the coup and called out Russia and China for aiding its campaign to crush its opposition.

“Two aircraft have already been delivered,” Than told RIA on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, Russia’s annual forum aimed at developing economic cooperation in the region and encouraging foreign investment, which starts on Sunday in the port of Vladivostok.

Russia and Myanmar signed a contract in September 2022 for the delivery of six Su-30SME fighter jets, RIA said.

The Sukhoi Su-30SME multi-role fighter jet is designed for enemy’s aerial targets engagement, aerial reconnaissance, combat employment and pilot training, according to Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state-controlled arms exporter.

Separately, Than told the Russian TASS state news agency that a number of bilateral agreements will be signed at the East Economic Forum, including on developing tourism between the two countries.

The Russian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The United States has warned that Russia’s backing for Myanmar’s military rulers is unacceptable and destabilising, with its supply of weapons helping to fuel a conflict that has become a catastrophe for the country.

Russia’s defence minister and top diplomat have visited Myanmar, while junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has been to Russia several times since 2021 and was given an honorary doctorate.