Myanmar’s military destroys bridges to prevent resistance forces crossing Sittaung River

Junta forces destroyed two wooden bridges in Bago Region’s Yedashe Township late last month amid rumours that anti-regime groups were planning to mount an assault from the eastern side of the Sittaung River, according to locals. The bridges, each about 450 feet long and 10 feet wide, are routinely used by villagers living east of the river to access the towns of Yedashe and Swar to the west. Both towns are roughly 50 miles south of Naypyitaw. The Swar Port bridge, the more heavily used of the two bridges, is usually dismantled as water levels rise during the rainy season, but would normally be open for traffic at this time of year, a local woman told Myanmar Now. “This is the first time the bridge has been completely demolished,” she said. The regime also destroyed the Swar Ma Gyi bridge, and last year did the same to the Shan Hsu bridge, which also traverses the Sittaung River, according to locals. Security outposts had been set up next to both bridges, and soldiers manning them routinely charged residents a toll of 1,000 kyat per motorcycle and 6,000 per car to cross, according to a member of a local resistance group. “They wouldn’t have destroyed two bridges that brought them income if they weren’t worried about anti-junta forces using them to get across,” he said, adding that the move also reduced the need to deploy troops to the area. Currently, there is only one bridge—the Thargar bridge—still open in the area, and locals who use it are subject to thorough searches, he added. The Swar Port bridge before its destruction (Supplied) “This makes it more expensive and dangerous for us to get back and forth across the river,” he said. “They did this so we couldn’t easily infiltrate the towns on the western side.” While there has been no recent fighting in the area, a series of junta airstrikes on three villages east of the Sittaung River two weeks ago left seven civilians, including three children, dead. The travel restrictions have also made life more difficult for residents. The regime has imposed strict controls over the amount of rice, cooking oil and other basic necessities that it allows to go to villages on the eastern side of the river. There were also reports that the regime had used bulldozers late last week to tear up two roads in Okpho Township in western Bago Region’s Thayarwaddy District. The roads—one connecting the villages of Chaung Tin Kwin and Thalikar and the other the villages of Hlay Done and Daung Gyi—are located in the Bago Yoma mountain range. The regime has also destroyed roads in parts of Karen and Mon states controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU) and the anti-regime People’s Defence Force (PDF). Yedashe and Swar townships are both within KNU Brigade 2 territory, and PDF groups also operate in this area.

Myanmar’s military destroys bridges to prevent resistance forces crossing Sittaung River

The two bridges are in an area less than 50 miles south of Naypyitaw

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