Myanmar army troops and pro-regime militias abruptly withdraw from Sagaing Region bases

Resistance forces claim to have taken hold of three junta outposts in Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region on Sunday after junta troops and pro-junta militia forces manning the outposts withdrew without warning. According to sources in the anti-junta resistance, the soldiers and members of the Pyu Saw Htee—militias armed and trained by the military in various parts of Myanmar—reportedly relocated to other bases from their outposts in Myin See, Sin Inn, and Ku Toet Seik villages, all 17 miles or less from Shwebo Township’s urban centre. The troops and Pyu Saw Htee members reportedly brought their families with them in the move to Zee Phyu Kone village, the location of another base. The move took place after attacks by armed resistance forces on the Ku Toet Seik village base, resistance fighters said. The soldiers and militia members withdrew despite the resistance forces’ failure to capture the Ku Toek Seik village base in recent attacks, according to a spokesperson for the Shwebo People’s Defence Forces (PDF), which operate under the command of the publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG). “We didn’t succeed in seizing their base in our attacks, but they withdrew anyway. We are currently clearing and securing the base,” the Shwebo PDF spokesperson said. All three villages left behind by the regime forces are known as strongholds for the junta and Pyu Saw Htee within the township. While Sin Inn has mostly been occupied by junta troops, Ku Toet Seik and Myin See were chiefly inhabited by Pyu Saw Htee members and their families, with a few junta soldiers in command. Resistance members speculated that they left the outposts—normally each manned by 70 to 100 soldiers or militia members—due to a shortage of food, as the supplies they were receiving were insufficient and it was risky to venture far outside of the villages. “They were unable to roam freely outside of their village, and were forced to stay inside,” a Shwebo Township People’s Defence Team member said. “Food supplies delivered by junta troops from Shwebo normally came once or twice a month. The last time they delivered food was three months ago.” Villages with a heavy Pyu Saw Htee presence in the Dry Zone area of Sagaing Region are frequent targets for the anti-junta resistance, who say they have developed effective tactics for surveilling and besieging the militias’ positions. The resistance forces often plant explosives in the areas surrounding the villages to limit the militia members’ movements. Pyu Saw Htee militias are generally only capable of carrying out raids on villages under resistance control when accompanied by army troops from Shwebo, resistance sources said. The militias were reportedly able to establish well-defended positions in a number of contiguous villages on the west bank of the Mu River in Shwebo Township thanks in part to their coordination under the command of late militia leader Htay Aung, a Myin See resident. Htay Aung, a man notorious for using his leadership position in the militia to oppress local civilians, was shot dead by resistance forces in January of this year. Myo Myint Aung, another notorious pro-junta militia leader, was also gunned down by resistance forces in Bago Region two months later.

Myanmar army troops and pro-regime militias abruptly withdraw from Sagaing Region bases

Resistance forces said they had not forced the armed militia members and soldiers out of the bases by attacking them, and speculated they had relocated due to the regime’s failure to deliver supplies

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