
Anti-junta groups operating near the central Myanmar town of Myingyan in Mandalay Region say they have been forced to retreat after a week of fierce clashes.
The fighting began on November 11, when regime forces, including junta-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia troops, launched a major offensive against resistance-held villages near Myingyan, located about 65 miles southwest of Mandalay.
Several battalions of the Myingyan District People’s Defence Force (PDF) and other resistance groups had occupied villages southeast of Myingyan, including Ku, Kunsaik, and Chay Sin, effectively blocking the strategically important road to Meiktila.
In addition to deploying hundreds of troops to retake the area, the junta carried out intensive airstrikes, according to Bo Mike Khae, an officer in the Myingyan District PDF’s Battalion 9.
“We had to retreat from the first defensive line and then fall back further from the second defensive line. But our troops. . .