Clashes ongoing in Madaya Township as resistance pushes towards Mandalay

Regime forces fought this week against an ongoing offensive by the resistance fighters of the Mandalay People’s Defence Forces (MDY-PDF) using heavy artillery and airstrikes north of Myanmar’s second largest city, Mandalay, local sources said. Clashes broke out for around half an hour on Tuesday at an intersection west of Aung Tha Pyay village on the east side of Madaya Township, according to a local man in his 60s, who added that more intense fighting followed that evening in the nearby villages of Kyauk Ta Dar, Tha Min Twin, and Kan Hpyu. “It was just getting dark. The fighting kept going,” said the man. “I couldn't see the situation clearly, so I don't know exactly what happened. But we could hear loud sounds from both the heavy artillery and small arms going off.” He added that troops at the military base in Htee Taw Moe village, located some 12 miles north of Mandalay, had been firing artillery every day, causing civilian casualties. “The Htee Taw Moe base is shelling constantly. There have been civilian casualties because some shells have also landed off target. The situation is such that we can’t travel and can’t follow the details of what’s happening,” he said. The man went on to say that he and his neighbours heard loud explosions relatively nearby on Wednesday evening around 7pm, which they believed to be shells fired from the same base landing near the village of Htan Pin Kone. Htan Pin Kone is located on the Mandalay-Myitkyina highway about 18 miles north of Mandalay and six miles east of Madaya. According to pro-junta propaganda channels on Telegram, junta troops reportedly managed to retake Htan Pin Kone from resistance fighters who had seized it on September 29. Junta soldiers in Htan Pin Kone village, Madaya Township Osmond, an MDY-PDF spokesperson, confirmed on October 9 that clashes were ongoing in Madaya but declined to provide further details on the state of battle. Posts with videos on pro-junta Facebook pages claimed to show intense fighting in Kyauk Ta Dar, Tha Min Twin, and Kan Phyu villages on October 8. A resident of Patheingyi Township, located on the northeast side of Mandalay, said rumours had reached him about the MDY-PDF’s capture of Si Taing Kan and Tha Min Twin villages, some five miles north of where he lived and a few miles southeast of Madaya. “Those are Pyu villages,” he said, referring to the junta-trained Pyu Saw Htee militias that are dominant in parts of rural Myanmar close to the battle lines. “[The MDY-PDF] said they had captured the villages,” he added. “The other day, Si Taing Kan was bombed heavily by junta planes. They attacked using two planes. But I don't know the latest details.” The civilian man living west of Aung Tha Pyaya said the same information had reached him. “I heard that after the MDY-PDF captured Si Taing Kan village, it was bombed by aircraft and the whole village was reduced to ashes,” he said. “Since it's a Pyu village, there probably weren't any militia members still there after it was captured.” He added that the junta had started conducting airstrikes in the area as early as Monday evening, bombing Kyat Pyin village in eastern Madaya Township, but that there had been no casualties. “A fighter jet circled over our village about 11 times at night. Then it circled over Kin village, then dive-bombed Kyat Pyin village,” he said, adding that there had been a celebration happening outdoors that day in the village and that the residents had only avoided injury by chance when the plane missed its target. “There were no deaths. Some buildings were damaged though,” he said. Map showing the sites of recent clashes in Mandalay Region’s Madaya Township The village of Kyat Pyin, on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady, is adjacent to the village of Thone Se Pay, which was the target of attacks by junta ground troops, aircraft, and artillery last month, which resulted in the deaths of six civilians and forced resistance forces operating in the area to retreat. The resistance currently controls the towns of Singu and Thabeikkyin north of Madaya Township, which is also bounded by the city of Mandalay to the south, northern Shan State to the east, and Sagaing Region’s Shwebo District to the west, across the Ayeyarwady River. The MDY-PDF’s stated aim is to capture the Myanmar army’s Central Regional Military Command headquarters in Mandalay. Battles have raged throughout Madaya Township as their forces have advanced southwards towards Mandalay. Patheingyi Township: Mandalay’s eastern entrance The junta has also reportedly bombed Patheingyi Township northeast of central Mandalay, targeting the MDY-PDF forces currently in control of the Phayaung Taung gold mine. According to a resident of the township, at the end of September the military carried out a series of air raids on the gold mine, which is not far from the Alpha Cement Factory, located in Patheingyi Township just east of the Madaya Township line and Aung Tha Pyay village. Both the factory and mine are currently held by resistance forces. “They haven’t targeted the Alpha factory much lately, but there was intense bombing of Phayaung Taung at the end of last month,” the resident said. “Both are still under PDF control,” he added, referring to the MDY-PDF. “I also heard the PDF captured Panthalae Taung a few days after taking Phayaung Taung, so they’re all in PDF hands.” Civilians from villages in this area, still displaced and unable to return home due to the threat of junta airstrikes, are reportedly unable to get the assistance they need. “People in some villages are trapped between battle lines and can’t go anywhere. They’re short of food and water and can’t work or travel. Aid for the displaced isn’t reaching this area either,” the Patheingyi Township resident said. Forced to move constantly to avoid the shifting battle lines and search for food, most of the displaced have been unable to find safe places to shelter or settle between Patheingyi and Madaya townships, further decreasing the chances that aid will reach them. The MDY-PDF launched an offensive against the military in late June, timing their attacks to coincide with the resumption of the Operation 1027 offensive by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and allied anti-junta forces in northern Shan State. Since then, along with a sentry post at the Alpha Cement Factory and the Phayaung Taung mine owned by a junta-appointed former chief minister of Mandalay Region, the MDY-PDF have captured more than 30 junta outposts in Madaya Township and are continuing the fight to reach Mandalay. A shelter for displaced people, including villagers from Madaya Township’s Kyauk Ta Dar village, in September (Photo: Moe Oo/Myanmar Now)

Clashes ongoing in Madaya Township as resistance pushes towards Mandalay

Intense fighting continued to spread as the junta deployed aircraft and artillery to slow the advance of the MDY-PDF, whose stated aim is to capture the military’s regional command headquarters in Mandalay

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