Myanmar military regime recaptures territory north of Mandalay

The Myanmar junta’s ground troops took over western Madaya Township, Mandalay Region on Saturday after resistance forces retreated from their base camps in the area, according to resistance fighters. “Our troops between Mandalay and Madaya had to be withdrawn. They have captured the area,” a source connected to the armed resistance said, referring to the junta forces. “In addition to ground offensives, they conducted airstrikes and fired heavy artillery from multiple directions. They attacked with chemical weapons too. They used toxic gas,” the source said. The junta forces reportedly carried out attacks on resistance positions for six days before taking over western Madaya Township. As with other battlefield matters, the military council has not released any statements regarding offensive operations in Madaya Township. Starting at 3am on November 17, two junta columns consisting of more than 200 soldiers initiated an offensive targeting camps in the resistance-occupied areas, approaching from the directions of both Mandalay and Madaya, according to resistance sources. The junta also reportedly deployed the navy and air force to support the ground forces’ assaults that day, conducting airstrikes and firing artillery from two warships on the Ayeyarwady River. Two junta vessels moving up the Ayeyarwady River from Mandalay on November 17 (Photo - Supplied) In September, resistance forces said they had to withdraw from Madaya Township’s Thone Se Pay village, located on the Ayeyarwady River some 5 miles north of Mandalay, following raids by junta forces. A column of around 70 junta troops based in Mandalay attacked Tha Hpan Daunt and Sauk Chon Pauk villages north of Thone Se Pay , they said, while another column of over 150 troops based in Madaya raided villages in northwestern Madaya Township. The villages targeted by the junta are on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River and had allowed the resistance forces access to the river while they controlled them. Along the riverbank, two civilian men were killed and three civilians including a child were injured by junta airstrikes on a small island in the river west of Sein Pan Kone village, according to a member of the Pyin Oo Lwin District People's Defence Organization (PDO). “They launched airstrikes on the farmers’ huts on the island and two civilians died there. They also used chemical weapons attacked,” he said, adding, “We suffered badly from the airstrikes.” However, he claimed that the abandonment of base camps in that area had already been planned and was not prompted by the junta forces’ attacks. “Yes, we had to withdraw from our camps. However, we withdrew as part of our strategy, it wasn’t because of their offensive,” he said. Madaya Township is strategically important due to its location on a route that allows access to Mandalay. Without controlling the township, the junta would be unable to retake the towns of Singu, Thabeikkyin, and Tagaung in Mandalay Region, which are currently under resistance control. According to the resistance-connected source who spoke with Myanmar Now, control of Madaya is also vital for the resistance in Mandalay Region to maintain their connections to anti-junta forces in the country’s north. “For resistance forces, having to give up the planned capture of Madaya and the blockade of Mandalay is a major setback,” he said. “Control of Madaya doesn’t just give you leverage over Mandalay, it’s also where routes to Shan State, Kachin State, and the northern regions of the country intersect. If you compare it to a human body, Madaya is the head and Mandalay is the trunk.” After taking control of western Madaya, on Monday afternoon the junta began advancing into the Min Kun area in Sagaing Township on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady, burning villages and displacing civilians from their homes. The junta have also set fires in more than 20 villages and displaced thousands of people in western Madaya Township, according to resistance sources. According to a local man assisting displaced civilians in Sagaing Township in the region of the same name, many internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Madaya have arrived in their area. “In our location alone, there are about 2,000 displaced people who have fled from western Madaya Township. It will be difficult for the IDPs to return,” the Sagaing Township resident said. “They are burning the villages to make them uninhabitable,” he added, referring to the junta troops. The People’s Defence Organisation and other local groups made up most of the armed resistance forces in western Madaya Township, while the Mandalay Region People’s Defense Force (MDY-PDF) operates primarily in the eastern part of the township. All resistance forces operating in the township are under the command of the publicly mandated National Unity Government, the shadow cabinet formed by ousted civilian leaders in the wake of the coup in 2021. Since anti-junta ethnic armed groups resumed the Operation 1027 offensive against the military in northern Shan State in June of this year, the MDY-PDF and their allies have simultaneously attacked military positions in the neighbouring Mandalay Region, overrunning more than 30 junta bases and effectively taking control of eastern Madaya Township. The MDY-PDF has also captured army bases in Patheingyi Township south of Madaya and just north of Mandalay, as well as the Chinese-backed Alpha Cement Factory and Phayaungtaung gold mine, which is owned by the former, junta-appointed chief minister of Mandalay Region. “The MDY-PDF controls the east side of the township,” a Madaya Township resident in his 60s said. “They don't even dare cross the main tar road,” he added, referring to the military. “Fighting has stopped in the area.”

Myanmar military regime recaptures territory north of Mandalay

A resistance source said the junta used chemical weapons to take control of western Madaya Township, which has served as a buffer between resistance-controlled areas in the north and the country’s second-largest city, which is still under military control

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