Myanmar military launches coordinated offensive across ten Sagaing Region townships

The Myanmar military regime earlier this month launched a broad-based offensive in the northern central region of Sagaing, a populous territory that includes many areas under the control of local resistance forces. Some resistance officials have speculated that the junta’s latest manoeuvres are the first signs of a plan to reassert full control over the region in the coming months, as the regime prepares to hold a nationwide election scheduled for the end of the year. “These resumed offensives are concentrated along the route from Kalay and Tamu to Pale and areas east of the Chindwin,” said a soldier from the Budalin Township People’s Defence Forces (PDF). “The junta is launching coordinated attacks simultaneously across these locations, indicating a renewed effort to intensify pressure on the resistance.” According to another PDF leader from Sagaing Region’s Yinmarbin District, the coup leader’s forces are deploying numerous new recruits to the frontlines. Even the units advancing without engaging in direct combat are being backed by air support. The junta is also relying on the so-called “Pyu Saw Htee”—pro-junta “people’s militias” armed and trained by the military without formally enlisting in the army—in some rural areas. “At present, the column moving toward Kant Daunt village, Pale Township has been reinforced through a Pyu stronghold village,” the Yinmarbin District PDF leader said. “They are deploying a substantial force to carry out coordinated attacks on several villages simultaneously.” Heavy fighting between the column and resistance forces in Pale Township has forced residents from nearly 20 villages to flee, according to a local source. From late July to the first week of August, the army has increased its manpower and launched offensives across the townships of Kalay, Tamu, Pale, Sagaing, Monywa, Chaung-U, Ayadaw, Wetlet, Kanbalu, Taze, Ye-U, and Shwebo, leading to numerous clashes with resistance groups. A column of junta troops based at the Monywa University of Economics (ECO) has been firing artillery on surrounding areas where resistance forces are believed to be positioned while preparing to push into the villages east of Monya, the region’s most populous city. According to a resident of the city, a column of troops, accompanied by a tank unit from the army’s Monywa-based Northwestern Regional Military Command headquarters, had moved into Kyauk Kar village on the Monywa-Ayadaw Road, firing both heavy artillery and light weapons, on August 8. “We observed smoke and learned that several homes were set on fire, with nearly 20 residents supposedly captured,” the resident said. He added, however, that exact numbers were difficult to come by after many locals fled the village, with those who remained unwilling to disclose much information out of fear for their security. The column making its way out of Monywa has been accompanied by paramotors—manned, propelled paragliders used to drop bombs from the air as an alternative to drones, planes, and helicopters. On the afternoon of August 9, local sources reported that other junta columns moving through Wetlet Township—some 40 miles northeast of Monywa—and Pale Township—some 21 miles to the southwest—had unexpectedly fallen silent, with no audible artillery fire or other sounds of fighting. Between the end of July and first four days of August, junta forces are reported to have killed at least five civilians in Wetlet Township, and locals confirmed that a resistance administrator, shot dead by soldiers, was among the victims. The troops also reportedly took as many as ten civilians hostage and burned down several houses. Resistance forces have taken control over administration at the township level in a few parts of Sagaing Region such as Pinlebu and Indaw, as well as capturing smaller locales such as the village of Maw Luu in Indaw Township, Shwe Pyi Aye in Homalin Township, Kant Daunt in Pale Township, and other villages in Tamu and Kalay townships. Resistance forces have also captured several villages in Shwebo Township, the police station in Salingyi Township’s Kyar Tet village, and the Ku Taw village police station in Budalin Township from the military and pro-junta militias. However, the resistance was forced to withdraw during battles for the towns of Depayin, Kani, and Pale, leaving them in the regime forces’ hands. Earlier this month, the military began to impose tighter restrictions on the movement of vital consumer goods, including medicines, diapers, and feminine hygiene products, from Mandalay to resistance-controlled areas in Upper Myanmar, including Sagaing Region. Items to be shipped to Sagaing Region must pass inspection at a customs office in Mandalay before being cleared for transport via a river port on the Ayeyarwady. The notorious “four cuts” strategy is the junta’s calculated campaign to block food, funding, information, and manpower from reaching targeted areas. In general, the military is continuing to implement its long-established, notorious “four cuts” strategy, stopping the vital flow of food, funds, information, and manpower to areas under the control of its enemies. Having recently regained control of the town of Nawnghkio in northern Shan State, Moebye in southern Shan State, and Thabeikkyin in Mandalay Region from anti-regime forces, the Myanmar military remains fully engaged in its campaign to recover lost territory. The junta forces have intensified attacks on the Mogok-Nawnghkio road, advancing towards the gemstone production hub of Mogok, Mandalay Region, which for now remains under the control of an anti-junta ethnic armed group, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. At the same time, resistance forces have lost several villages on the east side of Madaya Township, located directly across the Ayeyarwady River from Sagaing Region. The junta is also simultaneously conducting counteroffensives in Karenni (Kayah) State and around the towns of Pauk and Pakokku in Magway Region.

Myanmar military launches coordinated offensive across ten Sagaing Region townships

Regime forces have advanced into ten townships in Sagaing Region, a longtime stronghold of the armed resistance to military rule in Myanmar’s heartland

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