Clashes break out between resistance, military outside of Mandalay

Junta troops based in western Madaya Township in Mandalay Region retaliated after a resistance attack by burning down several homes this week in the village that they had been occupying, according to local guerrilla fighters. The 50-soldier camp in question was established months ago in Thone Se Pay, located along the Ayeyarwady River five miles north of Mandalay city. It was ambushed on the morning of November 19 in the latest of multiple attacks by anti-junta forces. Several resistance groups were involved in last week’s assault on the Thone Se Pay base, including the People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) from Madaya, Pyin Oo Lwin and Patheingyi and Generation Z Power (GZP). A GZP officer said that 30 Myanmar army soldiers and two members of the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia were killed; three junta vehicles attempted to bring reinforcements to the site from Mandalay, but were reportedly forced to retreat after running out of ammunition. Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify the number of troops slain in the battle. After suffering significant losses, the military “fired heavy artillery all day and all night” and set fire to Thone Se Pay’s homes over several hours, according to the GZP officer. In total, around 30 homes were destroyed and hundreds of people from Thone Se Pay and around 10 surrounding villages fled. At the time of reporting, a 200-soldier military column was reportedly forming along the Ayeyarwady River in Madaya Township, and taking civilian hostages from area communities. On November 16, a junta-appointed administrator for Nyaung Kone village in southern Madaya was shot dead by unidentified gunmen, according to locals. A 40-year-old Pyu Saw Htee leader was also shot while travelling to the village of Sin Kyun, an assassination for which GZP claimed responsibility for, alongside the Patheingyi PDF. A 78-year-old woman also died and eight people were injured after the junta attacked the Madaya Township village of Kin village by land and air on November 13. Madaya Township is en route to northern Shan State’s Nawnghkio and Kyaukme, where ethnic armed organisation allies like the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) have been cutting off junta reinforcement convoys and attacking outposts in an attempt to drive the Myanmar army out of the region. Together forming the Brotherhood Alliance, the TNLA, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army launched coordinated assaults on the junta on October 27, calling the offensive Operation 1027. PDF chapters in Mandalay Region under the command of the publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG) seized the momentum of the operation and attacked a military post on the road between Natogyi and Myingyan townships on the same day. Resistance forces have been stepping up their presence in small towns south of Mandalay and on the eastern banks of the Ayeyarwady, including Natoygyi and Myingyan, as well as Taungtha. Members of PDFs in these areas claimed to have launched several recent hit-and-run attacks on military posts and planted landmines on routes utilised by junta troops. On November 16, one such group managed to overrun a junta camp in the village of Kaing in Myingyan Township, seizing a machine gun and ammunition. A video shared on social media showed the buildings inside the site burning and PDF members celebrating their victory. A resistance officer who led the attack, Sai Jar Lu, told Myanmar Now that the soldiers stationed at Kaing had deserted the post. CAPTION: Members of a People’s Defence Force unit operating in Myingyan Township in early 2023 (Supplied) Members of a People’s Defence Force unit operating in Myingyan Township in early 2023 (Supplied) Wun Moe, the commander of the Myingyan PDF’s No. 3 regiment, explained that his troops were relying on guerrilla tactics informed by intelligence gathered on the movements of junta soldiers. “We have spread our forces out across Myingyan. We might set landmines or ambush military columns, depending on the circumstances, but we are not yet attempting to occupy any towns,” he added. The Brotherhood Alliance has claimed control over several northern Shan State towns strategically located on the Myanmar-China border trade route over the past month. The most significant prize of the NUG’s armed forces has been the occupation of Kawlin town, a district seat in Sagaing Region’s north. At the time of reporting, intense clashes were taking place between PDFs and the military in other parts of the northwestern Myanmar region, including in Kani and Wetlet townships.

Clashes break out between resistance, military outside of Mandalay

Resistance forces target junta posts in guerrilla attacks launched both north and south of the central Myanmar city, particularly in the townships of Madaya and Myingyan

Subscribe for full access

After 100 days of ‘civilian’ rule, Myanmar remains a bastion of oppression

‘We cannot write as before’: Women poets of Myanmar’s Spring Revolution

Sent to die: Myanmar’s conscripts caught between a junta’s war and a nation’s collapse

Magway emerges as key front in junta’s strategy to claw back control of western Myanmar

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

Five killed, 29 injured in Myanmar military airstrikes on AA-held areas in Rakhine State

TNLA, Myanmar junta hold talks in Naypyitaw amid China-backed peace efforts

Myanmar junta says it has retaken Thantlang, near Chin State’s border with India

Ethnic armed groups say ASEAN envoy meeting was not dialogue with Myanmar junta