Resistance fighters killed by Myanmar junta troops in Magway Region

Five armed resistance members travelling through Magway Region were killed this month in two separate, direct encounters with regime soldiers, according to sources within the resistance. “They were members of Thayet District Battalion 1,” a member of a local resistance group said, referring to a unit of the anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF). “Of the six fighters who came under attack, one was taken captive and five were killed.” Thayet District Battalion 1 is based in Aunglan Township on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River. One resistance fighter was killed and one of his comrades was captured when an exchange of fire occurred between junta soldiers and six fighters in the first week of November in Magway Region’s Myothit Township, the local resistance member said. The four fighters who were able to escape that day were attacked again by junta troops two weeks later, on November 17, some 15 miles south of Myothit, according to the same source. The confrontation, which occurred near Let Pan Pway village close to the Beikthano heritage site in Taungdwingyi Township, resulted in the deaths of all four remaining fighters, according to resistance members citing local civilians. After the earlier shooting incident in Myothit Township, the junta set up security checkpoints and tightened security procedures on roads in the neighbouring townships of Magway, Sinbaungwe, and Taungdwingyi, resistance sources said. Posts appearing on pro-junta Telegram channels on November 19 said that six PDF members were shot dead near Gway Pin Yoe village in Taungdwingyi Township. The posts appeared to refer to the same incident, despite disparities about the reported location and number of people killed. In photos accompanying the posts, bodies of middle-aged men were seen with puncture wounds and visible injuries on their chests and arms. Photos posted on pro-junta Telegram channels showing the bodies of resistance members killed by regime forces. Magway Region, a hub for the military’s arms production Of 25 arms manufacturing facilities around the country, more than half are in Magway Region in central Myanmar. The factories produce a range of weapons and munitions, from bullets and small arms to aircraft bombs and artillery components. While armed resistance forces have established some strongholds in the hilly townships west of the Ayeyarwady since the military coup of 2021, they have remained weak east of the river. As they attempted to expand operations to the east bank this year, the junta responded by carrying out its own operations to keep the upper hand. Magway Region also shares a border with Rakhine State, where regime forces have lost more than half the townships to the ethnic armed organisation Arakan Army. The junta most recently lost control two bases in Ann Township, Rakhine State where western regional headquarters is located some 20 miles west of the border with Magway Region. The junta has blockaded the flow of goods into Rakhine State due to the ongoing fighting, affecting movement in the neighbouring townships of Magway Region. “They are mainly focusing on the Pathein-Monywa road, used to transport food supplies to people based in the Rakhine Yoma hills,” said Ba Hein, the leader of the anti-junta People's Defense Organisation (PDO) in Mindon Township. “They're blocking all transport of food and medicine.” To send reinforcements to its headquarters in Ann Township, the junta has been concentrating its forces on the Ann-Padan road in western Magway Township, attempting to maintain control over a necessary route for moving its troops. Because of the strong resistance presence there, this has resulted in ongoing clashes along the road. Due to Magway Region’s importance for arms production as well as its proximity to areas of Rakhine and Chin states where the army has failed to maintain control, resistance forces anticipate a further escalation of operations by the military in Magway Region in the near future.

Resistance fighters killed by Myanmar junta troops in Magway Region

In a region where the military is desperate to maintain control due to its arms factories, killed several members of the People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) point-blank after attacking them

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