War Against the Junta
A Special Operation Forces resistance sniper under the command of the NUG's Defense Ministry / S.O.F
At least 44 Myanmar junta forces were killed in the past week as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) continued to attack regime targets across the country.
Over a dozen resistance members were also killed in the clashes.
In one case, 15 resistance members and civilians were killed during a junta raid in Sagaing.
Incidents were reported in Sagaing, Magwe, Bago and Tanintharyi regions and Karen State.
The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and EAOs.
Some military casualties could not be independently verified.
Fifteen resistance members, civilians killed by junta troops in Sagaing
Resistance members of Tike Nal Swun use improvised mortar shells to bomb junta troops raiding and burning villages in Sagaing Township on Sunday. / Tike Nal Swun PDF
At least 15 people including resistance members and some female residents were shot dead by regime forces during their raid on a resistance camp and villages on the bank of Irrawaddy River in Sagaing Township, Sagaing Region early on Sunday, according to local PDF groups and media reports.
Around 100 regime forces, who arrived in motorboats, also burned houses in two villages, said local PDF group Tike Nal Swun, which defended the villages.
Junta base pounded in Sagaing
Resistance group Fighter Brotherhood Guerrilla Army said it and 17 other local PDF groups jointly used makeshift mortar rounds to shell regime forces stationed at the state-run No. 1 Garment Factory in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region on Saturday night.
Factory buildings were damaged, but military casualties were unknown. A PDF video shows many mortar rounds being fired during the attack.
Junta police killed in resistance ambush in Tanintharyi
Two police officers including the chief of the Maukmakan police station were killed and two others injured in Launglon Township, Tanintharyi Region last Friday when Launglon PDF ambushed a vehicle carrying four police officers near their police base, said the PDF group.
During the ambush, the vehicle crashed into the roadside and PDF forces had to retreat as police reinforcements arrived in the area.
One hour later, the PDF group coordinated with Yephyu PDF group to conduct drone strikes on the Maukmakan police station. Regime forces responded by indiscriminately firing heavy explosives.
Later, a military column of 100 troops raided Maukmakan Village and killed a resident, the PDF group said.
Two days of clashes break out in Tanintharyi
At least 10 regime forces as well as a resistance fighter were killed in two days of clashes in Palaw Township, Tanintharyi Region last Tuesday and Wednesday when Myeik District PDF forces and other local resistance groups attacked three military columns of 200 troops on the Myeik-Dawei Highway, said Military Region 3 of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG)’s Defense Ministry, the political wing of the PDF.
A photo shows the body of a dead regime soldier left behind at the clash site.
Pro-junta militia bases raided in Tanintharyi
Three pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia members were killed in Kawthaung Township, Tanintharyi Region last Thursday when Kawthaung PDF raided a militia sentry post and the house of the militia leader in Yay Ngann Chaing Village, said the NUG’s Defense Ministry.
During the raid, weapons, ammunition and illegal drugs were also seized from the militia members.
Junta suffers heavy losses in resistance land-mine ambushes in Magwe
At least 20 regime forces were killed and 30 others injured in Seik Phyu Township, Magwe Region on June 20 and 21 when Pakokku District PDF Battalion 4 and Seik Phyu PDF jointly used land-mines to repeatedly ambush military vehicles, claimed the NUG Defense Ministry.
First, the combined resistance groups used land mines to ambush two military vehicles carrying 60 junta troops on the Seik Phyu-Saw Highway, killing five soldiers and injuring 25 others.
The next day, the PDF groups again used land mines to ambush another military vehicle. The vehicle was attempting to clear a minefield planted by the PDF groups, so that junta troops could retrieve the bodies of dead soldiers.
In the attack, 15 soldiers were killed and five injured, and their vehicle was destroyed, the Defense Ministry said.
Military base attacked in Karen
Resistance forces during a raid on a regime base in Kawkareik Township on June 21 / Saw Dragon Drone Force
At least eight regime forces were killed and many others injured in Kawkareik Township, Karen State on June 21 when five PDF groups including the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), raided a military base in the township, said drone unit Saw Dragon Drone Forces (SDDF), which joined the raid.
In the clash, a resistance fighter was also killed.
Military column ambushed in Bago
Resistance fighters of Paungde PDF during an ambush against a military column in Paungde Township on Sunday / Paungde PDF
At least one junta soldier was killed and another injured in Paungde Township, Bago Region on Sunday when Paungde PDF ambushed a military column of 40 troops traveling into a forest, said the PDF group.
After the ambush, regime forces cremated the dead soldier and burned three nearby farm-huts belonging to local farmers.