War Against the Junta
Explosives and military equipment left behind by retreating soldiers in Myawaddy Township, Karen State on Monday. / Cobra Column
Around 40 regime forces were reportedly killed in the past three days as People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) escalated their attacks on regime targets across the country.
The PDFs’ targets included a junta air base, administrative office, police station and court.
Incidents were reported in Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay regions and Karen and Mon states.
The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks by PDFs and EAOs.
Some military casualty figures could not be independently verified.
Junta air base shelled in Magwe
A junta air base in Magwe Township, Magwe Region was shelled by combined resistance groups on Tuesday morning, said PDF group Golden Eagle Myaylatt, which was involved in the attack.
The groups fired three 107-mm artillery rounds at the base. The mission was led by the country’s oldest ethnic revolutionary group, the Karen National Union (KNU), the PDF group said.
The extent of the damage to the junta air base is not yet known.
Six regime forces killed in fierce clashes in Karen
Six junta troops were killed and 14 injured in intense clashes with a combined force of Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and PDF groups in Myawaddy Township, Karen State on Sunday and Monday, said the KNLA’s Cobra Column on Tuesday.
On Monday, four regime forces including an officer were killed in the township when the combined resistance forces engaged in a heavy clash with regime forces under the military’s Division 44, which was attempting to raid Thay Baw Boe Village.
In the clash, two nearby military battalions supported the junta ground troops by using a Multiple Launch Rocket System to fire a quantity of 120-mm artillery rounds and 122-mm bombs at the resistance forces.
However, the junta ground troops retreated from the area after suffering heavy losses due to the defensive actions of the KNLA and allied PDF forces, Cobra Column said.
In the clash, military equipment, ammunition and a military map abandoned by the retreating soldiers were seized.
On the same day, a soldier was killed near the town of Lay Kay Kaw when Cobra Column snipers ambushed regime forces at a military outpost.
On Sunday, one more regime soldier was killed and four others injured during clashes with the KNLA and allied PDF forces in the Luu Khoe Nyaung Chaung area in Myawaddy Township.
Clashes continued in the area on Tuesday, Cobra Column said.
Over 20 junta soldiers killed by PDF land mines in Sagaing
At least 22 regime soldiers were killed in Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday when the Lightning Guerrilla Revolution Forces ambushed regime troops with land mines at two locations in the township, the PDF group claimed.
At 7 a.m. on Tuesday, seven junta soldiers were killed between two villages when it used four land mines to ambush an advance unit of a military detachment.
After the ambush, regime forces stationed at a hospital randomly open fire on nearby areas with heavy explosives. There were no PDF casualties but a resident of a village was injured by the junta shelling.
On the same day, at least 15 more soldiers were killed when the PDF group used two land mines to attack regime forces near Kar Seik Village in the township, the PDF group claimed.
Junta police station, administrative office shelled in Sagaing
Several launchers fired improvised mortar rounds at regime targets in Salingyi Township on Monday. / Yinmabin District PDF battalion 28
The junta-run township General Administration Department office, court and police station were shelled in the town of Salingyi in Sagaing Region on Monday night, according to local media reports quoting Yinmabin District PDF’s Battalion 28, which conducted the attack.
The PDF group told the media it used a total of 32 rounds of 80-mm and 120-mm improvised mortar shells. At least eight artillery rounds exploded at the police station and another five exploded at the administration office, the PDF group claimed.
After being bombarded, the regime forces responded by indiscriminately firing 40-mm explosives and automatic rifles.
A PDF video shows improvised launchers firing several mortar shells.
Five junta soldiers killed in PDF ambush in Sagaing
Resistance fighters attack regime forces during an ambush in Myaung Township, Sagaing Region on Monday. / Myingyan Rangers
Five military troops were killed in Myaung Township, Sagaing Region on Monday when nine PDF groups including some forces from Mandalay Region jointly attacked a military detachment between two villages, said the Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung (CDSOM), which coordinated the attack.
A PDF video shows resistance fighters attacking regime forces during an ambush.
Four regime soldiers killed by PDF land mines in Mandalay
Four junta troops were killed and two others injured in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region on Tuesday night when two PDF groups used five land mines to ambush regime forces on four motorbikes, said Nyaung Yoe Special Guerrilla Force, which was involved in the ambush.
The junta patrol forces were ambushed while they were leaving the town of Semeekhone. Regime forces responded with indiscriminate gunfire but there were no PDF casualties.
Three junta soldiers killed in PDF ambush, drone strike in Mandalay
A PDF drone drops an improvised bomb on regime targets in Madaya Township, Mandalay Region on Tuesday. / Zero Guerrilla
Resistance group Zero Guerrilla Force claimed that it and other two PDF groups killed at least three soldiers in Madaya Township, Mandalay Region on Tuesday when they conducted three drone strikes and an attack on a regime ambush patrol in Kanphyu Village.
An aerial video shot by the PDF groups shows a drone dropping an improvised bomb on regime targets.
Three soldiers killed in Mon
At least three junta troops were reportedly killed and four others injured in Kyaikhto Township, Mon State on Tuesday when a resistance group attacked a military checkpoint at a junction, said Kyaikhto Information Team, a media wing of local PDF groups.
The military checkpoint is notorious for extortion of civilians. In the attack, the resistance group used four 40-mm explosives. Injured soldiers were taken into Kyaikhto town in a vehicle, the media site reported, citing resistance sources.
Military battalion raided in Mon
Two regime soldiers were reportedly killed and another four injured in Ye Township, Mon Sate on Tuesday when PDF group Ye Belu armed with 40-mm explosives and automatic firearms raided the military’s Light Infantry Battalion 586 in the township, the PDF group claimed.
There were no PDF casualties.