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Resistance coalition clashes with junta in Tanintharyi 

Local resistance forces in collaboration with the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU) engaged in clashes with the Myanmar army on Tuesday morning in the southern region of Tanintharyi, according to two of the fighters involved. 

A clash took place at around 8am in Thayet Chaung Township’s Taung Pyauk village under the control of the Karen National Liberation Army’s (KNLA) fourth brigade and lasted only around 15 minutes, a member of the local People’s Defence Force (PDF) said on the condition of anonymity.

He said that three junta soldiers were injured, one critically. The clash, he explained, broke out after PDF and KNLA forces spotted regime troops marching from the occupied village of Win Ka Hpaw towards Taung Pyauk, in KNU-controlled territory.

“It has settled down a bit since the two sides fired at each other. We are now moving to a different place because there is a risk of heavy artillery shelling,” the PDF member said, noting that the military “always shells the places where the assault is coming from.”

Later on Tuesday morning, at 9am, there was an hour-long clash between local PDF members and junta troops who entered the KNU-controlled area without prior notice. The battle happened near the villages of Pein Hne Taung and Du Yin Pin Shaung in Palaw Township, according to another PDF fighter.

“It seemed like they entered when our guard was down. But we had already deployed our people on watch and immediately knew they were coming in. We fired at them once they made some movement,” she said.

An 18-year-old PDF member was injured in the clash, the fighter added, but further information was not available at the time of reporting. She also estimated that at least 10 junta soldiers may have been injured by the PDF-KNLA coalition, but Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify the claims. 

The coup regime’s forces responded to the attack with heavy artillery fire, with two military helicopters from the southern town of Myeik flying into the area as reinforcement, the PDF member said. 

Due to concerns that fighting would break out in the area, residents of Pein Hne Taung village had been advised last week by the PDF and the KNLA to move to safer locations. There were no reported civilian casualties in the clash, according to the PDF. 

The clashes in Thayat Chaung and Palaw townships are reportedly the first in Tanintharyi Region since armed resistance to the February 1 coup began. 

The Myanmar military has also deployed forces in the nearby villages of Thar Yar Kone and Yay Shan in Palaw Township and expected to have more clashes there, she said.

“If the fight has started for real, many local residents have Tumi guns,” the PDF member said, referring to local hunting rifles. “They would also form a coalition and fight back against the junta. But airstrikes are a concern,” she added. 

Padoh Saw Plot Soe Win, the KNU’s Dawei (Tavoy) District joint secretary and head of the district’s liaison office, told the Karen Information Center (KIC) on Tuesday that regime forces were believed to be hunting down PDF members and that there had been clashes with the local resistance forces.

“They were looking for places where PDF members could be stationed. Not only in that area… It’s possible that there was a confrontation while doing so. Our people on the ground have not reported the details to us yet,” he told the KIC.

Earlier on Tuesday, the anti-coup National Unity Government declared war on the junta and urged PDF members, ethnic armed organisations, and people across the country to revolt against the coup regime led by Min Aung Hlaing. 

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