Two Myanmar army columns raided a base of the anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF) in Sagaing Region’s Myaung Township last week, seizing 100m kyat (US$47,800) worth of weapons and ammunition, according to a statement by the resistance group.
The camp in question—located near Meimathaw village and situated on the Ayeyarwady River—was held by Battalion 5 of a PDF chapter from Myitnge in neighbouring Mandalay Region.
Ko Ye, an officer in the Myitnge PDF, told Myanmar Now that each of the attacking junta columns had more than 100 troops. They reportedly converged on the base from opposite directions along the river on March 15.
One of the columns was from Light Infantry Division 99, and responsible for recent brutal massacres including one involving 17 victims in Tar Taing, Sagaing Township some 30 miles away, the officer said. The other was a unit that had been occupying the village of Kyauk Yit in southern Myaung.
Ko Ye explained that his forces had acquired intel regarding the army’s advance and planted explosives in the area to target them.
“We knew that they would come for our base, so we took the raw materials for weapons production, moved to another village and abandoned the site,” he said, claiming that a “great number” of junta troops were hit by the makeshift mines.
“We also saw that they transported their injured soldiers across the Ayeyarwady River on a motorboat. Many injured soldiers were carried by the able-bodied ones,” Ko Ye told Myanmar Now.
He added that around seven bodies were seen wrapped in blankets or longyis, suggesting that these troops were killed.
The soldiers reportedly torched the base after carrying away looted items in a tractor.
As the military column from Kyauk Yit left the overrun base, the Myitnge PDF said that they intercepted them along the riverbank, leading to a battle which lasted around 30 minutes at 5:30pm that day. One member of the resistance group who had been on security duty was killed—his body dumped in the water by the junta troops—and three were injured, Ko Ye said.
The military has been targeting PDF bases along the Chindwin and Ayeyarwady rivers on a near daily basis, as the junta attempts to secure the waterways as critical supply routes through the resistance strongholds of central and northwestern Myanmar.
Three posts held by local anti-junta defence teams south of Monywa, Sagaing Region’s largest town, were attacked by the Myanmar Army on March 16, as was another in Myaung.
Clashes subsequently broke out in both townships the next day, according to local sources.
