Myanmar regime forces have been carrying out a campaign of arson attacks against villages in southern Tanintharyi Region since a group of forcibly recruited youths escaped junta custody earlier this month, according to resistance sources.
The 27 young men, who had been handed over to regime authorities after being arrested in Thailand while trying to flee conscription, made their escape on September 8 after killing their guards while being transported to a military training centre.
Since then, they have sheltered in territory under the control of Brigade 4 of the Karen National Union (KNU), with some agreeing to join resistance forces fighting the regime.
In response, junta troops have been raiding villages in Palaw Township, where the men escaped, and clashing with anti-regime forces farther south in Myeik and Tanintharyi townships.
“Starting from September 9, junta soldiers have been torching houses in villages along the beach in the northwestern part of Palaw,” the spokesperson for the Palaw Township People’s Defence Force (PDF) told Myanmar Now.
The villages coming under attack are all in the area where the men hid before taking shelter in KNU territory, he added.
According to a statement released by the Palaw Township PDF on Wednesday, a total of 43 homes have been destroyed since the attacks began, and five locals have reportedly been abducted.
In Shut Pon, a village near the town of Palaw, two bodies were discovered in houses that had been burned down, according to the Palaw Township PDF. One of the victims was a member of the group, while the other was a woman in her 70s named Phwa Pu.
On September 17, resistance forces attacked junta troops stationed near a school in Taung Pu, a village located about halfway between the towns of Myeik and Tanintharyi. Four regime soldiers were reportedly killed.
This led to a further intensification of the regime’s offensive in the region, including raids on local villages and bombings carried out with the use of drones.
A day after the clash in Taung Pu, a column of around 100 junta soldiers entered the village of Ban La Mwat, where they engaged in another battle that left two of the regime troops dead, according to Myo Gyi, a spokesperson for the Myeik District PDF.
Despite being repeatedly targeted by resistance forces, the junta column remained in the area, occupying villages in order to launch drone attacks on nearby locations.
On Monday, three women were injured by a bomb dropped on the village of Naung Kone, according to locals. Resistance forces retaliated the next day with their own drone attack, resulting in an unknown number of junta casualties, according to Myo Gyi.
“They are no longer able to freely use the road from Myeik to Tanintharyi,” he said, adding that resistance forces have been using landmines as well as drones to take partial control over this key route.
Resistance groups have warned local civilians to exercise caution as tensions continue to escalate.
