Four junta soldiers killed in Mandalay’s Ngazun Township; 12 locals arrested

Myanmar’s military arrested 12 people in Mandalay Region’s Ngazun Township on Monday following a landmine attack that left four junta soldiers dead and two others injured, local sources reported. The incident occurred at around 5:30am as two army trucks carrying nearly 100 troops were travelling west from a police station in Myotha, a town about 40 miles southwest of Mandalay. The vehicles were hit by landmines near Myotha’s industrial zone, located about a mile west of the town, a local man told Myanmar Now. “Witnesses said that four junta troops were killed. Their bodies were taken away in one of the trucks, after which 12 civilians were arrested and taken back to the police station,” the man said. The arrests took place in Kywe Zein, a village about four miles west of Myotha, he added. The detainees were all identified as farmers living in the village. Their families have not been able to contact them since their arrest, according to the man. A local resistance group, the Special Task Force Ngazun, claimed responsibility for the attack. However, it was not available for comment at the time of reporting. The group also carried out another attack on October 8, killing two junta troops and critically wounding nine others at a checkpoint on the Mandalay-Myingyan Road. Myotha is controlled by the military, but resistance forces regularly conduct guerrilla-style attacks in the surrounding areas. Residents report that junta troops stationed at three checkpoints near the town routinely extort locals and arrest anyone suspected of involvement in the anti-regime resistance. Junta forces have also been using drones, paramotors, and heavy artillery to target villages in Ngazun Township and other areas in Mandalay’s Myingyan District, according to resistance sources. Fighting has forced more than 10,000 civilians—including residents of the villages of Than Kone, Sat Pyar Kyin, Tha Pyay Kan, Kha Lan Yoe, Kone Lel, Ngamyar Gyi, and Motaung—to flee their homes in Ngazun Township since earlier this year, sources said. According to a local involved in efforts to assist the displaced villagers, many have been living in nearby forests for more than five months, and have faced serious hardships due to flooding.

Four junta soldiers killed in Mandalay’s Ngazun Township; 12 locals arrested

The regime forces were among around 100 travelling through the area when they were hit by a landmine attack on Monday

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