Resistance forces report killing more than 40 junta troops in a series of attacks on Bago Region’s Yesdashe Township on Tuesday, just a week after launching a pre-election offensive in the same area, located south of the capital Naypyitaw.
In a statement released Thursday, the Naypyitaw People’s Defence Force (PDF) claimed that the casualties resulted from coordinated attacks on junta positions east and west of the Sittaung River, as well as on a column of regime reinforcements.
The attacks targeted junta outposts in the villages of Doetan and Khintanlay, west of the river, and in Oemyatu, located on the east bank, according to the statement.
The first attack occurred around 7:30am, targeting a camp near Doetan manned by about 40 regime soldiers, two of whom were reportedly killed. Some ammunition was also seized.
About an hour later, a column of roughly 70 junta troops sent to support the Doetan camp was ambushed, resulting in at least 20 casualties, the Naypyitaw PDF said.
A similar number of troops were killed in the assault on Oemyatu, which took place around 2:30pm. Anti-regime forces took full control of the village, capturing three prisoners and seizing weapons and ammunition.
Local residents reported hearing gunfire throughout the day, with heavy artillery fire causing vibrations in houses. Two people from the area told Myanmar Now that they saw the wounded and dead being transported in army trucks and ambulances.
One local woman said two women from the village of Takhwekye were killed by junta artillery during the fighting. She added that hundreds of people living in villages along the west bank of the Sittaung River in Yedashe and Swa townships had to flee due to the junta’s heavy weapon fire.
“Some fled to the towns of Swa and Yedashe, while others sought refuge in monasteries in villages along the river where there was no active fighting,” she said.
Last week, the Naypyitaw PDF and allied resistance forces carried out a series of attacks on junta targets in Yedashe Township, including a polling station set up in preparation for the first stage of elections held last Sunday.
The election, scheduled to take place in three stages over nearly a month, is being conducted only in areas controlled by the regime. Coming nearly five years after the military seized power in a coup, the election has been widely dismissed as a sham.
