Armed anti-junta fighters claim to have attacked and killed soldiers guarding the entrance to the town of Depayin, Sagaing Region, on Monday evening, capturing several junta weapons after a brief clash.
A local resistance group called the Depayin Local Mobile Team, joined by allied fighters, assaulted the checkpoint on the eastern edge of the town. After 10 minutes of fighting they fatally shot the soldiers manning the checkpoint and another who had come from a nearby police station, according to Thukha, the resistance group’s leader.
“We carried out the raid while they were inattentive to catch them off guard. Five soldiers died at the gate and we shot another soldier who came out on a motorcycle to assist. They also fired on us from the police station. We retreated before they came out in force,” he said.
Myanmar Now was unable to verify the number of junta fatalities independently.
Myo Gyi, a spokesperson for the Anti-Dictatorship Revolution People’s Army, another resistance group participating in the attack, confirmed that the operation was completed in just 10 minutes.
“Our special forces comrades who are already experienced in combat approached the gate slowly at first, assumed their positions, and started shooting. The guerrillas bided their time before attacking suddenly, so the soldiers couldn’t do anything,” he said.
The resistance fighters seized two rifles, a machine gun, a pistol, ammunition, tools, phones and Chinese currency that had been in the deceased soldiers’ possession.
The junta had set up checkpoints on the roads at Depayin’s entry and exit points. The outpost that came under attack was located on the Depayin-Ye-U road.
Resistance groups in the area have not reported any casualties from the attack.
The morning after the assault on the checkpoint, a junta column of around 100 troops advanced into Depayin Township from the town of Ye-U, to the northeast.
Thousands of villagers in the township have reportedly fled their homes as the column terrorised villages where they suspected resistance forces were present, but the names of the villages and other details are unconfirmed at the time of reporting.
On July 24, a People’s Defence Team (PDT) operating under the command of the National Unity Government (NUG) similarly attacked a junta checkpoint on the outskirts of the town of Taze, Sagaing Region, killing two soldiers and seizing a military vehicle.
Shortly after the coup of 2021, most of the armed resistance in Sagaing Region was equipped only with hand-made weapons. They became more effective opponents to the Myanmar military as better weapons became available and various anti-junta groups began to coordinate strategically.
Earlier this month, the junta chief directed his top military and pro-junta civilian leaders to escalate offensive operations in Sagaing Region—as well as Chin and Karenni states—with the goal of regaining a hold on areas controlled by resistance forces.
