iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

This thread is only a fraction of what I've seen & what people told me in the Sagaing region of Myanmar. If any editors would be interested in any stories about Sagaing, the people, fighters, refugees, war crimes, drone units etc, or if anyone know of any editors who might, my DMs are open!

14813

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

36310

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

What is striking to see is how widespread the support for this resistance is across this region. Almost every village, even the ones of only a couple dozen people, have memorials like this, dedicated to local men (and sometimes women) who died in the ranks of the PDF resistance.

1525

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

During my time there I was luckily never in danger but we definitely had warning of warplanes close to us multiple times a day. Sometimes we could even hear the jet engines as they passed by. You feel the junta's presence constantly in the sky above you.

1363

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Across resistance-held areas people have had to dig bomb shelters in their backyards. Holes in the ground often covered up with nothing more than some logs, thin plates & sand. It's illustrative of a people abandoned by the world, having to resort to only themselves for survival

1394

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

And the trenches themselves; hardly 1.5 meters deep. It will protect smaller children when the bombs fall nearby and debris flies over, but you have to pray the bomb doesn't land right on top. But with only a couple shovels at hand, this is the best shelter they could set up.

1381

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

A bell on the school ground serves as the alarm system. The students all know its sound very well.

1411

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

When a warplane comes the children are instructed to leave the classrooms through the emergency door and jump into the trench to take cover.

1472

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Schools are also at risk. Anything that resembles normal life is a target of this regime and could be destroyed. The schools we visited were also in undisclosed location, hoping the secrecy will protect the children. But even here their safety is never guaranteed.

1568

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Hospital staff have had to move their practice into secret locations. Homes somewhere in town or undiscloved locations out in the forest or countryside. All to keep the facility and its patients safe from airstrikes. Women are now giving birth on farms without proper equipment.

1516

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

What I found especially shocking was the obvious and deliberate targeting of hospitals in resistance-held territories. I visisted a number of facilities, and all had been bombed out of service by the junta. All the deny people living here any kind of medical care.

1598

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Evidence of the junta's brutal scorched earth strategy is everywhere. Homes, shops, hospitals, schools, all have been it. Even this truck stop, out in the middle of the forest was not spared.

1522

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

The junta had apparently been operation under the false intelligence that there was an underground fiel hospital beneath the village. Nine people died in this raid alone. All the survivors left afterwards

1522

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

This leaves increasingly growing territories free from junta control, but not from military retribution. Across Sagaing entire villages have been pulverized by junta airstrikes. This villages for example was torn to pieces when a bunker buster hit right in the middle of it.

1584

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

The pattern which was established in Sagaing is now being repeated all over the country: While the junta holds on to large towns, the PDF resistance dominates all the countryside, and more and more key roads This has basically reduced regime control to a skeleton of what is was

1696

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Due to its distance from the national borders of India and Thailand, Sagaing has mostly been overlooked by international coverage of the war in Myanmar 🇲🇲, yet it is this region which has become the epicenter of PDF resistance against the military regime.

1663

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

I have just come back Myanmar 🇲🇲 where I spent two weeks traveling around the resistance-held territories of the Sagaing region. Its a remote region which no other foreign press has managed to visit since the start of the war five years ago. I'll share some impressions below 🧵

226082

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

If you found my maps useful and like me to continue making them please consider buying me a coffee. Putting together these maps is a daily task & as an independent researched the work I do is unpaid, so a small donation could come a long way 🙏❤️ ko-fi.com/thomasvlinge

0377

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Sudan 🇸🇩 MAP UPDATE: the situation in Sudan as of 01/10/2025. -This past month the SAF achieved some critical victories in northern Kordofan, seizing control of Bara and pushing the RSF further away from the city of El Obeid. But the RSF assault on El Fasher has only intensified

35810

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Myanmar 🇲🇲 MAP UPDATE: The situation in Myanmar as of 01/10/2025. This past month heavy fighting continued over a number of fronts as both sides tried to advance. -Junta forces recaptured Kyaukme, opened the roads to Myawaddy and Hpruso. -Resistance forces captured Banmauk.

47816

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Sahel 🇲🇱🇧🇫🇳🇪 MAP: The situation in the Sahel states of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Benin as of September 2025. This map is a joint production by @warmapper.org and myself

29026

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Eventful morning in #Russia 🇷🇺. Ukrainian drones once again managed to infiltrate deep into the country and hit military targets. In this video a power line was hit by a drone right outside of the Engels airbase in the #Saratov oblast.

1624

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

#Myanmar 🇲🇲: the junta has reportedly been flying in a large number of soldiers into the Putao district in the far north of the country. It's suspected these forces will be used in a counter-offensive against the #KIA resistance group which made some crucial advances in the area

0336

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

#Ukraine 🇺🇦: early this morning Russian bombs hit the main square in the center of #Kherson. The regional administration building was severely damaged in the attack.

0303

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

#Russia 🇷🇺: the Ukrainian military successfully struck a Russian Islander missiles system, located just across the border in the #Bryansk region.

0606

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

#Myanmar 🇲🇲: clashes broke out in the Taze township of #Sagaing as PLA resistance fighters intercepted a junta patrol early in the morning.

0363

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

He was a horrible president but I have to admit he makes for a good pair of socks.

0664

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

If you found my maps useful & would like me to continue making them please consider buying me a coffee. Updating these maps is a daily task, work I do unpaid as a freelancer, so a small donation could come a long way, and I would be very grateful 🙏 ❤️ [ko-fi.com/thomasvlinge]

1549

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

#Ukraine 🇺🇦: a Ukrainian drone managed to score a direct hit and destroy a Russian Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, deployed somewhere along the front near the town of Pokrovsk (#Donetsk region).

0392

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

#Sudan 🇸🇩 MAP UPDATE: the situation in Sudan as of 01/06/2025. This past month was marked by a series of attempts by the #SAF to advance into south and west Kordofan. Attempt which initially seemed succesful but were later reversed by the #RSF, showing the war is still very far from being decided.

1479

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

#Myanmar 🇲🇲 MAP UPDATE: the situation in Myanmar as of 01/06/2025. The past month was marked by a series of modest advances by the resistance. A number of junta camps were seized in the states of Karen, Bago, and further in the south. The resistance controls between 60-65% of the country.

36612

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

#Myanmar 🇲🇲 MAP UPDATE: the situation in Myanmar as of 01/05/2025. As the dry season comes to a close resistance forces are stepping up their attacks across the country. Meanwhile the junta keeps bombing dozens of villages despite earlier promises of a ceasefire.

24113

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

#Sudan 🇸🇩 MAP UPDATE: the situation in Sudan as of 01/05/2025. As the SAF continues to advance in the city of Omdurman, the RSF is consolidating its control over Darfur and western Kordofan. Today the town of En-Nahud was seized, as the militants are stepping up their attacks on el-Fasher.

2324

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

The situation in #Sudan 🇸🇩 after two years of war: Today marks the 2nd anniversary of the war, and after two years of fighting the front is anything but frozen: -SAF captured Khartoum, Bahri -RSF launched a new offensive in Darfur -RSF and SPLM-N launched joint attacks in Kordofan & Blue Nile

24810

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Portraits of Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, and a flag of the recently formed Suwayda Military Council are now also being featured more prominently on the square. But Druze flags still wave alongside Syrian flags. #Syria.

0220

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Some pictures from around Dignity Square in the center of #Suwayda. The square that was the beating heart of regional protests against the #Assad regime.

1364

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Made it to the colorful city of #Suwayda in the south of #Syria. The torch that carried anti-Assad protests in 2023-24, but now finds itself at odds with the new government over regional governance, Druze representation and worries about extremist factions.

2515

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

If you enjoyed my work and would like me to continue mapping these conflicts please consider buying me a coffee at [ko-fi.com/thomasvlinge] I appreciate everyone that has shown an interest in my work and cited me as a source. I hope to continue doing this work and make it publicly available for all

0576

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

#Sudan 🇸🇩 MAP UPDATE: the situation in Sudan as of 02/03/2025. This past month has been a very succesful one for the SAF. The military managed to: -Fully seize control of Bahri -break the siege on El-Obeid -Capture the town of al-Giteina -make critical advances around Khartoum

15213

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

#Myanmar 🇲🇲 MAP UPDATE: the situation in Myanmar as of 02/03/2025. In the past month of February: -AA continued to advance into Magway -KIA took more military bases in Bhamo -PDF launched many assaults in Sagaing -KNDF took a hilltop camp in Karenni -Chin groups continued to attack Falam.

16914

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

1557

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

#Myanmar 🇲🇲 MAP UPDATE: the situation in Myanmar as of February 2025. Exactly four years after the Burmese junta seized power through a coup it finds itself increasingly isolated. Around 60% of the country is now in the hands of resistance groups with major battles ongoing.

39422

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

#Sudan 🇸🇩 MAP UPDATE: the situation in Sudan as of February 2025. This past month was a very significant one on the battlefield with the #SAF make major advances on several fronts, including the capital Khartoum. The cities of Wad Madani and Umm Ruwaba were liberated of #RSF rule.

25612

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

#Serbia 🇷🇸: mass protests also took place in Novi Sad, in the northern Vojvodina region, the site of the railway station tragedy.

212128

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Mass protests in the streets of #Belgrade today as a general strike is taking place all over #Serbia 🇷🇸. For weeks now the country has been gripped by anti #Vucic protests, following the deathly canopy collapse in Novi Sad which killed 15 people.

014245

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

#Sudan 🇸🇩: Darfuri forces managed to repell a major #RSF assault on the besieged city of #ElFasher today, pushing the militants back as they tried to advance from several directions. Note how the city of El-Fasher is being defended by men and women alike.

0518

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

#Colombia 🇨🇴: Following the ongoing fighting in the Catatumbo region the Attorney General of the country has re-activated the arrest warrants for the entire leadership of the #ELN guerrilla group. Arrest warrants that were suspended during the peace negoations.

1341

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

#Myanmar 🇲🇲: junta warplanes repeatedly bombarded the TNLA-held town of Nawnghkio in northern #Shan state. According to resistance sources at least nine civilians were killed in the strikes.

1365

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

After the liberation and the celebrations comes the cleaning up. #Syria

215631

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

#Myanmar 🇲🇲: the Arakan Army has seized full control of the town of Taungup in southern #Rakhine state. The last remaining junta base in the town fell to the resistance on Saturday. The resistance now fully controls 12 out of Rakhine's 17 townships.

39621