Myanmar junta establishes defensive perimeter around Taze

Myanmar’s military has built four new bases around the town of Taze in Sagaing Region in recent weeks as part of an effort to defend it from resistance attacks, according to local residents. A column of around 400 junta troops, including members of the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia, arrived in Taze Township from neighbouring Kanbalu Township in the final week of May and began building the heavily fortified bases, locals said. The bases are located in Et Taw, a village about six miles east of Taze on the Taze-Kanbalu road; War Ya Nge, four miles to the west on the Taze-Kalewa road; Kywe Thae, south of the town on the Taze-Shwebo road, and Sin Nge, two and a half miles to the north. The new bases reportedly include bunkers and trenches. “They’ve constructed brick bunkers all around Taze, using bricks and cement taken from shops whose owners have fled the town,” said an official of Taze Township’s anti-regime administration. According to residents, all of the villages that have been occupied, except for Kywe Thae, were previously controlled by resistance forces under the command of the publicly-mandated National Unity Government (NUG). Some residents of the area were critical of the NUG-led forces for allowing the takeover, saying they did nothing to prevent it. “The junta army didn’t raid the villages, they just walked right in and took over. Farmers want to harvest their rice, but no one dares to return,” said a resident of War Ya Nge who has been displaced since the regime forces arrived in his village. Local relief workers say that tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee not only the four occupied villages, but also more than a dozen others in the area. “The people of the surrounding villages could not sleep at night, worrying about when the soldiers would come, so they fled,” an official from the Taze Township Humanitarian Assistance Group told Myanmar Now. “This has reduced the amount of territory under the NUG’s control. Not only have [the junta soldiers] built strong bases, they have also used bulldozers to destroy the roads leading up to them,” he added. Villagers flee their homes following the arrival of junta soldiers in Taze Township since late May (People’s Defence Comrade) Taze Township is regarded as a resistance stronghold, with most rural areas under the control of the NUG’s armed wing, the People’s Defence Force (PDF). However, its grip over the eastern part of the township, which borders Kanbalu, where the Pyu Saw Htee is strong, is less secure. The PDF dominates the area west of the town of Taze, the township’s administrative centre. It recently captured a police station in Kan Htu Ma, a village about 10 miles west of Taze. Local resistance forces have made two attempts to capture Taze, but both times failed to seize control of its police station. However, regime forces have abandoned checkpoints around the town, which were a frequent target of attacks. Locals say soldiers stationed in Taze rarely leave the town. An officer of a Taze-based PDF battalion denied accusations that the resistance forces did nothing to stop the military from creating a defensive perimeter around the town, saying that they attacked a junta camp in War Ya Nge on June 6, but failed to overrun it. He also declined to say what the new bases would mean for resistance forces in the area. “Regarding military matters, we cannot predict anything for sure. However, we have the strength to defend our positions, and if necessary, we are prepared to reclaim the lost territories,” he said. The arrival of regime reinforcements over the past few weeks has more than doubled the number of soldiers and police stationed in Taze Township to around 700, according to sources. Located west of the Mu River in central Sagaing Region, Taze Township has a population of around 200,000, according to the 2014 census. Since last October, residents have had limited access to public water supplies and electricity due to the ongoing conflict. At a graduation ceremony for PDF trainees held last month, the NUG’s defence minister, Yee Mon, said that resistance forces are planning to launch a new offensive in the near future. Maung Maung Swe, the ministry’s deputy secretary, later said the offensive would target Myanmar’s dry zone, which includes much of Sagaing Region. The area is regarded as the heartland of the country’s Bamar majority and the power centre of successive rulers throughout Myanmar’s history.

Myanmar junta establishes defensive perimeter around Taze

Locals say resistance forces did nothing to prevent the military from constructing four new bases near the Sagaing Region town

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