Nine members of anti-junta defence forces and two civilians were killed in a clash with the Myanmar army in Sagaing Region’s Wetlet Township on Sunday morning, members of teh resistance involved in the battle confirmed.
The commander of Battalion 2 of the Wetlet People’s Defence Force (PDF) told Myanmar Now that, accompanied by other area PDF battalions and guerrilla groups, they had attacked a unit of 100 junta soldiers in eastern Wetlet.
He said that the troops in question had set fire to the nearby village of Min one day earlier.
“We had no choice but to attack them because they had torched the village,” he explained, referring to the 300-household community two miles east of Wetlet town.
“We just couldn’t let them get away with terrorising the villagers who have been feeding us.”
He added that the regional military command of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG), to which the PDF is loyal, had not provided directives to the group regarding the assault.
The majority of local resistance forces in the area rely on hunting rifles and muskets during clashes with the junta, frequently leaving them outgunned.
“Our handmade rifles were not effective at all as it was also raining,” said a member of a local defence force who participated in Saturday’s battle. “That’s why we lost so many men.”
The deceased were identified as five members of the Shwebo District PDF’s Temporary Battalion 17 of and four members of another local guerrilla force. Two local residents who were near the battle site were also killed, according to sources within the resistance.
Thardee Lu, the commander of Temporary Battalion 17, said that those guerrilla fighters who were killed belonged to battalions such as his which were not appropriately armed to confront the junta soldiers, who appeared to have anticipated the resistance forces’ assault.
“They opened fire on us non-stop from a corn field when we were only about 50 meters away. We didn’t even get to fire back. We couldn’t even save our men. They were all killed in just 30 minutes,” he said.
Members of Wetlet PDF’s Battalion 2, who had stronger weapons, held off the junta forces so that their allies could retreat, Thardee Lu told Myanmar Now.
“Our strategy was to set up explosive devices and wait for them, but once we realised that the local defence forces in the southern part of the village were in trouble, we had to attack,” the commander explained.
While the head of the Wetlet PDF’s second battalion said that five junta soldiers were killed in the battle. Myanmar Now is unable to independently verify the figures.
Neither the NUG nor the junta have released any information on the fighting in Wetlet.
In addition to an unconfirmed number of homes in the village of Min, junta forces in northwestern Myanmar have torched 14,000 residences in Sagaing alone and 19,000 nationwide since the February 2021 coup, according to figures collected by Data for Myanmar.
The military council has denied responsibility for the arson attacks.
The casualties in Monday’s clash were identified as:
Aung Swe Min, 33, Shwebo District PDF Temporary Battalion 17
Myo Min Swe, 24, Shwebo District PDF Temporary Battalion 17
Ye Yint Aung, 17, Shwebo District PDF Temporary Battalion 17
Yi Zin Phyo, 17, Shwebo District PDF Temporary Battalion 17
San Myo Tun, 20, Shwebo District PDF Temporary Battalion 17
Win Zaw Aung, 28, Local defence force member
Kyaw Zwar, 36, Local defence force member
Phoe Thar, 30, Local defence force member
Win Maung, 45, Local defence force member
Min Min Soe, 30, Civilian
Maung Soe, 45, Civilian
