Resistance ambushes Myanmar army convoy near regional capital, Wanbao mining project

Two soldiers were killed when anti-junta fighters attacked a large military convoy on Sunday in Sagaing Region’s Monywa Township, near project sites run by the Chinese company Wanbao Mining, according to resistance sources. The convoy, made up of some 50 vehicles including fuel trucks, was carrying reinforcement troops westward from the Light Infantry Division (LID) 33 base in Sagaing Township on the Monywa-Mandalay road. The vehicles reportedly triggered explosives set in their path by resistance forces at around 5pm near Ma Au village and the exit to Monywa, Sagaing Region’s largest city, leading to an exchange of small arms fire, the deaths of two junta soldiers, and the capture of five. “There must have been many casualties. We witnessed one vehicle spin out and fall into a ravine. Though the ravine wasn’t very deep, the vehicle couldn’t get back out again,” said Mae Hmaung, a leading member of the Mae Hmaung People’s Defence Force, which took part in the attack. The resistance forces withdrew after the firefight, which lasted around half an hour, and one of the involved resistance groups captured five junta soldiers who had fled in a panic from one of the military vehicles, according to Mae Hmaung. The junta’s Northwestern Command headquarters is located on the Monywa‒Ye-U road about 10 miles north of Monywa, while the attack occurred on a segment of the Monywa-Mandalay road south of the city. Map showing where the resistance forces’ attack occurred, near the Monywa exit on the Monywa-Mandalay road The Sagaing Scout Network (SSN) group, an organisation monitoring conditions in Sagaing Region, confirmed the number of casualties incurred by the junta forces during the clash. “Two died and seven were injured according to our initial investigation. They moved the dead and injured soldiers out by ambulance, going towards Sagaing," the group’s spokesperson said. While the names, ages, and ranks of the soldiers captured by the resistance forces have yet to be made public, the fighters have reportedly handed them over to the defence ministry of the publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG), according to the SSN spokesperson. “We heard from our allied groups that they have been transferred to the NUG,” Mae Hmaung confirmed, referring to the prisoners. Most of the resistance groups involved in the attack on the convoy are based in Yinmarbin Township. They include the Mae Hmaung PDF, the Arlawaka Group, Yinmarbin District PDF Battalion 29, the Daung Min (Peacock King) Group, the Golden Target Force (GTF), the Brave Heart Army (BHA), and the Royal Gog People’s Defence Force. A few hours after the attack, junta ground forces arrived in the vicinity, set up checkpoints and observation posts on the road, and retrieved the vehicle that had fallen into the ravine. By Sunday evening, they had begun firing in the direction of nearby villages using heavy artillery, a local resident said on Monday. “I haven't heard about the effects on nearby villages yet, but they've been randomly firing heavy weapons from evening until morning. Don't know about any casualties yet," a local man said. Members of the Mae Hmaung PDF earlier this year Military, Chinese interests in copper The military regime has been deploying its forces to conduct ‘clearing operations’ in the villages surrounding lucrative copper mining project sites in Salingyi Township on the west bank of the Chindwin River, opposite Monywa, for more than a year. The aim of these operations is to neutralise the threat of sabotage from resistance forces and opponents of the project operating in the area. The Letpadaung copper mining project is jointly owned by the military-owned giant Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Chinese entity Wanbao mining, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned defence conglomerate Norinco. The project’s operations paused after the 2021 coup as armed resistance forces gained strength in nearby areas of Salingyi and Yinmarbin townships. The resistance fighters had begun intercepting freight trucks and army vehicles coming from the project sites, in response to which the military carried out clearing operations in nearby villages, prompting thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Local resistance forces released an open letter in April 2022, warning that all operations at the Chinese-backed copper mining projects at Letpadaung Mountain, Kyaysin Mountain, and Sabai Mountain in Salingyi Township must cease. In early 2023, project managers attempted to resume operations, with assistance from the junta in recruiting personnel, providing security, and stepping up clearing operations in surrounding areas. In March of this year, about 200 soldiers deployed from the junta’s Northwestern Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters north of Monywa carried out clearing operations to regain control of the area around the Letpadaung project. Army convoys began escorting trucks carrying copper from the project sites in the middle of the year. Since the coup, local people have faced an ongoing threat of detention or death from the junta forces. The project has drawn opposition from locals since its inception before the coup, with the military even using white phosphorus against monks and other protesters. Myanmar’s then-opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited the Letpadaung site in 2013. Myanmar Wanbao and Myanmar Yang Tse—the Myanmar-based subsidiaries of Wanbao Mining entrusted with the direct management of the project—became the targets of sanctions by the US treasury department in July 2021 due to serving as sources of revenue for Myanmar’s military regime. MEHL—the entity through which the Myanmar military controlled its stake in the copper project—has been subject to US and British sanctions since March 2021 and European Union sanctions since April 2021. A copper project worksite belonging to the Myanmar Yang Tse company—a subsidiary of Wanbao Mining—in 2012 (Photo: Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Limited)

Resistance ambushes Myanmar army convoy near regional capital, Wanbao mining project

Fighters intercepted a procession of army vehicles south of the Northwestern Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters and across the Chindwin River from copper mining project sites owned jointly by the military and the Chinese company Wanbao Mining

Subscribe for full access

Magway emerges as key front in junta’s strategy to claw back control of western Myanmar

Beyond the iron bars: Into a broader world of confinement

Burned, beaten, and hunted: Myanmar worker survives alleged torture in Thailand

In Myanmar’s heartland, desperation fuels a shadow trade in stolen identities

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

Myanmar inflation hits 25% on US-Iran fuel shock: World Bank

Exclusive: American businessman arrested in Myanmar linked to lobbying dispute

Myanmar workers allege abuse, exploitation at Chinese garment factory; 50 reportedly detained

Myanmar junta chief arrives in China to boost trade ties