A series of accidental explosions has killed at least one person and injured several others in Sagaing Region’s Khin-U Township in recent days, according to local resistance sources.
The first incident occurred on Tuesday near the village of Gway Kone, about 20km west of the town of Khin-U, where five local defence team members and two civilians were injured by an explosive device that went off as it was being transported.
According to a spokesperson for one of the allied defence teams involved, two of the injured resistance fighters are in critical condition.
An hour later, another blast in the same area killed one woman and injured another after they drove over an explosive device while riding on a motorcycle.
“The explosive device was set up for the military. One of the women was killed on the spot, while the other was injured and is now recovering,” said the defence team spokesperson.
The next day, a member of the village defence team in Kan Thit, located about 5km southeast of Gway Kone, lost his leg after he stepped on a landmine while minesweeping, a source there told Myanmar Now.
Similar incidents have also been reported in other parts of Sagaing Region, including one in Sagaing Township on Sunday that killed two young members of a local defence team as they were setting mines intended for regime forces in the area.
Resistance forces in Khin-U have stepped up their use of explosives as junta columns based in neighbouring townships have continued to pour in over the past month.
In early May, a column of around 200 troops began attacking villages in the eastern part of the township after entering from Singu in Mandalay Region, and later in the month, another column coming from Shwebo Township in the south raided villages in western Khin-U, including Kan Thit.
A column that crossed the Chindwin River from Ye-U Township at the beginning of June has clashed repeatedly with resistance forces in the area, suffering multiple casualties since last Saturday.
According to an officer of the Khin-U Phoenix Guerrilla Force, the same column was attacked again after it left the town of Khin-U on Tuesday to return to Ye-U.
“We shot up a police car yesterday evening and there was also a clash near a bridge between Khin-U and Kan Thit this morning,” the officer told Myanmar Now on Wednesday.
“We used four explosive devices to attack them at the bridge where the military was stationed near the road out of Kan Thit,” he added.
Three soldiers were reportedly killed in Tuesday’s attack, but casualty figures from yesterday’s fighting were not available at the time of reporting.
According to the latest reports, as of Wednesday evening, the column appeared to be heading towards Pyin Htaung, a village controlled by the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia located about 10km northwest of Kan Thit.
Kan Thit has been raided four times since May of last year, resulting in the loss of nearly 300 homes to junta arson attacks, according to locals.
