Resistance forces in Mon State’s Thaton Township say they carried out a mine attack on an office of the Pa-O National Organisation (PNO), a junta-aligned ethnic armed group, early Friday morning.
The pre-dawn attack took place in the village of Naung Kalar ahead of a scheduled visit by the state’s regime-selected chief minister and other state-level ministers, according to an officer of the Thaton District People’s Defence Force (PDF).
“The chief minister, the security and border affairs minister, and the minister for Pa-O affairs were in the area as part of a public campaign,” said the PDF officer.
“We detonated the mine before their scheduled meeting instead of during because we were concerned about the potential harm to children and civilians.”
He added that five junta soldiers providing security for the chief minister’s planned visit were injured in the attack. These casualty figures could not be confirmed at the time of reporting.
A resident of Naung Kalar, which is less than 5km north of the town of Thaton, reported hearing an explosion at around 5am.
“There was no damage to the building. The bomb went off on a roadside near the entrance to the office,” said the resident, adding that a convoy of vehicles carrying junta-appointed state officials entered the village several hours later.
As a result of the mine attack, the meeting was held in the village administration office building instead of the PNO office, the resident added.
When contacted by Myanmar Now, Dr. Aung Myat Kyaw Sein, the spokesperson for the regime’s Mon State administration, said he had not yet received any information about the situation.
The PNO has operated as a militia affiliated with Myanmar’s military since signing a ceasefire in 1991.
The group’s leader, Aung Kham Hti, has close ties to past and present junta leaders and is known to meet frequently with Min Aung Hlaing, head of the current coup regime.
At the end of February, the PNO became one of 13 political organisations to register for elections that the junta says it will hold once it has secured control over the country, which has been wracked by conflict since it seized power in February 2021.
In April, the regime awarded Aung Kham Hti the honorary title of Wunna Kyawhtin.
