Myanmar resistance forces attack junta bases, polling station south of Naypyitaw

The Naypyitaw People’s Defence Force (PDF) says it carried out coordinated attacks on junta bases and a polling station in Bago Region’s Yedashe Township earlier this week. The attacks took place on Tuesday and targeted a base and regime-controlled administrative office in Swar Ma Gyi, a village about five miles east of the town of Yedashe, as well as camps in other villages, a Naypyitaw PDF officer told Myanmar Now. “The purpose of these attacks was not to seize the camps, but to disrupt the junta-led elections,” the officer said. The administrative office in Swar Ma Gyi had been set up as a polling station for residents of villages in the eastern part of Yedashe Township, located about 50 miles south of Naypyitaw. “We destroyed everything associated with the polling station in Swar Ma Gyi,” the officer added. According to the officer, there were no electronic voting machines at the site, despite the regime’s plans to use them to conduct the election. In addition to the attacks in Swar Ma Gyi, the Naypyitaw PDF also targeted permanent camps in the villages of Ywar Thit, Oe Myay Tu, and Khin Tan Lay, a member of the group said. At least 10 junta soldiers were killed in the assaults, the PDF fighter claimed. Although Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify this figure, a local man confirmed that there were a number of casualties. “[PDF forces] encircled Swar Ma Gyi and fired on it from all sides as the junta soldiers hid in their bunkers. They are now collecting their dead and strengthening their defences,” the man said. The junta base in Swar Ma Gyi was well-fortified with bunkers and trenches and defended by almost 60 soldiers. The Naypyitaw PDF said it carried out the attacks in response to pressure on residents to vote following the setup of polling stations in Yedashe Township. Following the attacks, the regime unleashed airstrikes and heavy artillery fire on the area east of the Sittaung River, forcing the evacuation of residents, a resistance soldier said. Eighteen village tracts in Yedashe Township are included in Phase 1 of the election, set to take place this coming Sunday. The Naypyitaw PDF has vowed to obstruct election sites by any means and urged the public to boycott the vote, which is widely seen a part of an effort by the regime to cement its hold on power.

Myanmar resistance forces attack junta bases, polling station south of Naypyitaw

The coordinated attacks were carried out to disrupt next Sunday’s election, according to the Naypyitaw People’s Defence Force

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