After resistance assaults, Myanmar military counterattacks near Sagaing Region mining site

Subscribe to the Myanmar Now daily newsletter. It's free. Sign up > Following three days of drone attacks by the armed resistance on troops at the Letpadaung copper mine in Salingyi Township, the Myanmar army responded with a counteroffensive on Thursday, resistance sources said. Civilians living nearby said resistance forces deployed drones to fire on the troops stationed at the Chinese-backed mine for three days starting on September 3. “There were drone bombings for three days in a row. We could tell because we heard the explosions. Some nights, they turned off the lights on the mining company compound and kept it dark,” a local man in his 30s said. Junta forces advanced from the compound on Thursday morning, moving west towards the villages of Hpaungkar (South) and Hpaungkar (North), according to locals. By the next morning, they were also conducting operations in the villages north of the project, they said. Locals added that a junta attack helicopter circled two or three times over Letpadaung Mountain on Friday around 2pm, apparently conducting reconnaissance. A police officer standing guard at Wanbao’s copper mining site near Letpadaung Mountain (Photo: Supplied) Residents of the nearby towns and villages of Aung Chan Thar, Kyaw, Hta Naung Kone, and Nyaung Pin Gyi have been forced to flee their homes during the military’s counterattacks. “We always have to be listening for information about military operations. Our luggage is always packed and ready. As soon as we heard, we just threw our luggage on the motorbike and drove off,” a villager said. Neither the military council nor the armed resistance groups have released statements regarding the resistance attack on troops stationed at the Letpadaung mine or the junta forces’ response. Residents of the area and locally-based armed resistance teams have long demanded a cessation of operations at the Letpadaung copper mine due to its importance as a source of revenue for the military. 51 percent of the profits from the Letpadaung mine are allocated to the regime-controlled Mining Enterprise No. 1, and 19 percent to the giant, military-owned conglomerate Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited. The United States, United Kingdom, and European Union have all imposed sanctions on both entities. The remaining 30 percent of earnings are allocated to the Myanmar Wanbao company, a subsidiary of the Chinese-based Wanbao Mining. Along with the Sabetaung and Kyisintaung (S&K) mining site also backed by Wanbao, the Letpadaung mine is part of the larger Monywa Mining Project. China is one of the primary sources of foreign investment in Myanmar, and has previously pressed the military junta to provide more effective protection and security for its projects, investments, and employees amid ongoing conflict in the country. According to a report released in late 2021 by the Australian-based human rights advocacy group Publish What You Pay, the junta generated $417 million in revenue from the Letpadaung mine and $187 million from the S&K mine in the 2020-21 financial year. Junta security forces have used the Letpadaung mining site compound as a military base in the years since the coup, using it as a launching point for offensive operations involving arson attacks, hostage-taking, and the killing of civilians in nearby villages. This year, the soldiers reportedly shifted tactics to improve relations with local civilians, specifically aiming to win back mining project employees who previously left their jobs to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) opposing the 2021 coup. Due to difficulties in making ends meet, some former CDM participants have agreed to start working for the mining projects again.

After resistance assaults, Myanmar military counterattacks near Sagaing Region mining site

The army is pushing back after three days of attacks by resistance forces fighting for control of the Letpadaung copper mine in Salingyi Township

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