At least 15 Myanmar junta troops and six resistance fighters have been killed in five days of clashes in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region, according to the People’s Army to Fight Dictatorship (PAFD) resistance group.
Clashes broke in and around Wetlet town on January 20 with the PAFD and allied groups occupying junta-controlled government offices for several days, a PAFD representative told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
After a series of rural clashes, resistance fighters raided the Irrigation and Water Resources Department and Electric Power Corporation offices in Wetlet on Monday and Tuesday.
Junta troops responded by burning down villages in the township, the group said.
Between Monday and Wednesday, more than 60 Wetlet-based troops torched hundreds of houses in three villages, according to the Wetlet True News site that reports on regime activity.
On Wednesday, PAFD fighters were ambushed by regime troops while heading to Hmue Gyi village to put out fires after a junta raid.
Six resistance fighters were killed, two injured and two detained by regime forces, the group said.
A pro-regime Telegram channel reported that the bodies of five resistance fighters were seized along with homemade bombs and a vehicle in the shootout near Mhue Gyi.
“Our forces traveled to Hmue Gyi to put out the fire after receiving a report that regime forces had left the village. But we were ambushed at the village,” the PAFD representative said.
After the ambush, resistance forces retreated from Wetlet town, the PAFD said.
