Myanmar junta escalates airstrikes after NUG defence minister visits resistance base

The junta air force escalated attacks on a frontline base held by resistance forces after news emerged that Yee Mon, a senior official of the publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG), travelled to the base in April. An April 27 statement posted on Facebook by the NUG—a shadow cabinet formed to oppose Myanmar’s military regime and endorsed by ousted civilian leaders following the 2021 military coup—did not provide the date when the minister’s visit took place. The statement described the state of battle in Pyin Oo Lwin Township, Mandalay Region, in the weeks after the Mandalay People’s Defence Forces (MDY-PDF)—which operates under the command of the NUG’s defence ministry—captured a junta base in the township’s Thayet Kone village on April 15. The base camp is located some 10 miles northeast of the town of Pyin Oo Lwin. A photo attached to the statement showed the NUG’s minister of defence Yee Mon visiting the frontline camp under MDY-PDF control. According to a civilian resident of Pyin Oo Lwin Township, more military aircraft began to take off from the nearby Anisakhan Airport—which is used by the military as an air base—only after the NUG’s statement appeared online. “Even when the camp was captured, the air force did not conduct an airstrike,” the Pyin Oo Lwin Township resident said. “They started carrying out airstrikes after the news came out about the minister's visit.” He added that the sounds of heavy artillery firing on Thayet Kone from junta bases in and around Pyin Oo Lwin could be heard frequently. The NUG’s defence minister reportedly travels to combat zones and front lines on occasion, travelling through border areas and territories controlled by ethnic armed organisations where the military regime has little de facto control. While the frontline camp was fully under MDY-PDF control at the time the minister visited, the present status of the camp is unconfirmed. On April 22, the junta air force carried out strikes on several MDY-PDF positions, according to Osmond, a spokesperson for the MDY-PDF. They attacked the Thayet Kone village monastery as well as monasteries in other villages located far from the site of any recent fighting, he added. The attacking aircraft used both cannons and machine guns in the raids, resulting in damage to the main buildings on the monastery compounds and destroying walls and roofs. However, the resistance forces say they continue to enjoy some successes. According to Osmond, the MDY-PDF had killed 11 junta soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, and captured 15 others in combat in Singu Township, Mandalay Region on April 28. The MDY-PDF has a history of fighting alongside the ethnic armed organisation Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) against the Myanmar military. In November 2023, during Operation 1027, an alliance of TNLA and MDY-PDF forces took over army camps in several villages in Nawnghkio Township, northern Shan State, such as Thanbo on the Pyin Oo Lwin-Mogok road. A lieutenant colonel was among the prisoners of war taken into custody by the joint forces in the capture of the Thanbo base camp. During a visit by junta chief Sen.-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing to Pyin Oo Lwin on April 14, the MDY-PDF shelled military buildings in the area using 20 rockets, the resistance group claimed. It was the following day that the MDY-PDF succeeded in taking the junta army camp in Thayet Kone. The capture of the Thayet Kone camp from the army brought the resistance forces closer to Pyin Oo Lwin, a junta-controlled town which holds symbolic as well as strategic significance as the location of a major military service academy.

Myanmar junta escalates airstrikes after NUG defence minister visits resistance base

The junta air force, which did not respond immediately after the Mandalay People’s Defence Forces (MDY-PDF) captured their base camp, attacked only after a photo was posted on social media showing the resistance official at the base

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