Assaults on a police station and gambling den in Letpadan Township, Bago Region, on Saturday killed four regime-affiliated police and other armed personnel, according to local civilians and anti-junta fighters.
Battalion 3802 of the Thayarwady District People’s Defence Force (PDF), also known locally as the Shwe Tan Myay PDF, released a statement on Saturday describing the attack they carried out that day on the regional police station in the village of Zee Hpyu Kone, some 20 miles west of Letpadan, and on a nearby gambling den in the vicinity of the railway station.
The PDF group claims to have used small arms to fire on at the junta and allied personnel guarding the gambling centre, injuring at least five people and killing Kyaw Kyaw Myint, a police corporal; Aung Khaing, a sergeant; and two members of the junta-allied Pyu Saw Htee militia, Kyi Lwin and Aye Min.
The PDF added that they had issued multiple prior warnings to the operators of the gambling den, which serves as a source of funds for the junta, and had even thrown flash-bang grenades before resorting to lethal force. However, they ultimately went ahead with the attack when the gambling den continued operating as usual.
The attacks were carried out by Squadron 4 of the Shwe Tan Myay PDF and another local defence team commonly called Sentry.
The military council still has not released a statement regarding the attacks.
“These attacks in Letpadan will undoubtedly shake the military,” said a 30-year-old man living in the township, who asked to remain anonymous.
“This is the first time this number of Pyu Saw Htee members or junta personnel were killed here. They’ve enhanced their security and are conducting more searches after the attack. We are only worried about the military terrorising people further.”
He added that junta police officers and Pyu Saw Htee members turn a blind eye to gambling dens as long as they receive bribes.
“The gambling dens pay them off with money and alcohol. The soldiers and Pyu Saw Htee members tend to spend time in the gambling dens to get new information,” he added.
In a similar incident, the Minhla Township people’s defence team, which also operates in Thayarwady District, fatally shot a Pyu Saw Htee member and a junta-appointed administrator in Nga Hla San village on the Yangon-Pyay highway.
The recent fighting between junta and resistance forces in Letpadan Township initially spread into the area from eastern Bago Region, which borders Karen State and parts of which lie in territory claimed by the Karen National Union and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army.
In an effort to control the Bago Yoma mountain range, PDF resistance fighters commanded by the publicly mandated National Unity Government have carried out an offensive dubbed “Operation Salmon” targeting junta troops in eastern Bago Region’s Nyaunglebin, Taungoo, and Thaton townships.
