Myanmar

Battlefield update: November 17

Myanmar Now consolidates our reports on clashes between the junta and resistance forces nationwide: several civilians are killed by military shells in Karenni and Shan states, and thousands displaced in Mandalay

Karenni 

Rescue teams found the bodies of at least 15 civilians, including children, killed in battles between resistance forces and the military in the Karenni (Kayah) State capital of Loikaw over a period of three days earlier this week. 

A child, who volunteers were unable to identify, was found alongside a man in Htay Gnar Lyar ward on November 12. The next day, the bodies of a 19-year-old woman and 50-year-old man were found in Nam Kut ward. Eleven more civilians, including a seven-year-old girl, her mother, her 12-year-old cousin, were found dead across five wards on Tuesday. 

Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify further information about the victims. 

Many of those killed were hit by artillery explosions fired by the military, according to sources in the resistance. A junta spokesperson blamed revolutionary groups for the civilian casualties.

Mandalay

Weapons seized by the resistance during battles in Madaya (MDY-PDF)

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Mandalay People’s Defence Force (MDY-PDF) have been conducting a joint offensive in Mandalay Region called Operation Taung Thaman, to which the military has responded with artillery attacks and airstrikes. 

Battles first broke out near Kin village in eastern Madaya, just a one-hour drive from the city of Mandalay, on Monday. The military has been raiding the community for more than two weeks and conducted at least seven airstrikes in recent days, according to a Wednesday statement by the MDY-PDF. 

Ko Osmond, spokesperson for the MDY-PDF said that the bodies of four slain junta personnel, including a known leader of the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia, were also found by the TNLA and MDY-PDF following Monday’s clash.

“The Pyu Saw Htee leader was killed during the battle while the rest escaped,” he told Myanmar Now. 

The MDY-PDF urged Madaya locals to leave the area for their own safety—thousands of people from eight villages in eastern Madaya had already fled at the time of reporting. 

According to an officer from another local PDF chapter in Madaya, 11 people in a teashop in the township were shot dead by junta soldiers on Thursday. The murders occurred after the troops detained them and told them to sit down together, including the owner and his wife.

Naypyitaw

Zabuthiri roundabout in Naypyitaw is seen before the 2021 coup (Myanmar Now)

The military council issued an order on Wednesday for departmental staff and former military officers to form squadrons within two days in order to provide security in the junta-run capital of Naypyitaw. 

The letter was leaked on social media and two staff confirmed that it had been distributed to them.

Signed by junta secretary Tin Maung Swe on behalf of the chair of the Naypyitaw Council, the order outlined the procedures to be followed by staff and ex-military officers who attended training at the Civil Service Academy after the February 2021 coup. 

It stated that the two groups should form separate squadrons, with one designated to carry out rescue missions during security crises or natural disasters, and the other to perform administrative tasks. A report on the formation of the units was required for submission by Friday.

Shan

Two TNLA troops in Namkham, northern Shan State, on November 10 (Myat Pan / Myanmar Now)

The TNLA’s administrative department issued an order on Tuesday asking that the residents of Muse and Namkham stay in their homes at night and for merchants to refrain from increasing the prices of commodities. 

The military withdrew from the townships, which at the time of reporting were under the control of the Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the TNLA, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army. 

People are required to obtain permission for being out in public between the hours of 8pm and 6am, according to the TNLA’s directive. 

TNLA spokesperson Lt-Col Tar Aik Kyaw said that the order would remain in effect until further notice. 

The military council had also declared martial law in eight townships along the Myanmar-China border, including Muse and Namkham, starting from November 12. 

According to the TNLA, the military has continued to fire heavy artillery into the townships’ urban wards and soldiers have been looting empty homes. 

In northern Shan State’s Nawnghkio Township (Naungcho), two children were killed and two more people—the children’s mother and another child—were seriously injured in junta shelling on Wednesday, according to the TNLA. 

The shell was reportedly one of six fired from a military base in the village of Than Bo, located next to the Pyin Oo Lwin-Mogok highway, falling in the village of Zee Phyu Ye, three miles to the north. 

Ko Osmond said that the deceased were aged one and 12.

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