Resistance fighters seize more army bases, police station in Mandalay Region

The Mandalay People’s Defence Force (MDY-PDF) and its allies took over a police station and five army camps in Singu Township, Mandalay Region on Wednesday after seizing eight junta outposts the previous day. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the MDY-PDF claimed to have captured the police station in the village of Nwe Yon as well as one base camp near the Marle dam, one near Shwe Marle pagoda, and three in the township’s Doe Nwe, Nant Hat and Ywar Taw Lay villages. Local and resistance sources in Singu said the MDY-PDF and allied groups have been attacking junta bases in New Yon, Pin Lel Gyi, and Let Pan Hla on the Mandalay-Thabeikkyin road since June 27. “Those villages along the road are essentially military camps, so the resistance forces have been attacking them. I’ve learned that they took control of the New Yon police station. In Let Pan Hla, the fighting was intense, and the junta launched airstrikes in the area, causing significant damage,” a man from Singu said. “The PDF has now reached Let Pan Hla,” he added, referring to the People’s Defence Forces, an anti-junta resistance group of which the MDY-PDF is a subgroup. All PDFs in Myanmar operate as the armed wing of the publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG). Since June 25, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)—an ethnic armed group—has resumed offensive operations against the Myanmar military in northern Shan State and adjacent areas of Mandalay Region. The MDY-PDF is among the resistance forces that have joined the TNLA in the anti-junta offensive, which they are calling “part two” of Operation 1027, referring to a coordinated campaign of attacks on military targets first initiated in October 2023 and temporarily halted in January 2024 by a Chinese government-brokered ceasefire. The NUG’s Ministry of Defence released a statement last week calling the renewed offensive against the Myanmar military “Operation Shan Man.” Resistance forces participating in the offensive include the the Kyaukme District Special Task Force based in Shan State as well as the MDY-PDF’s battalion 513 and Mogok tactical battalions 1221, 1222, 1223, and 1224; the Pyin Oo Lwin District People’s Defence Organisation (PDO); the Mogok Township PDO; and the Madaya Township PDO, all based in Mandalay Region. A PDF fighter from Singu who was participating in the offensive said that fighting had escalated on Wednesday in the neighbouring Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region as well as in Singu Township. That day, he said, the junta conducted bombing raids over Pin Lel Gyi and Let Pan Hla in Singu Township and airlifted reinforcements into the two villages. “We've captured the Nwe Yon police station,” he said on Wednesday afternoon. “Now the military council is attacking us from the air and flying in reinforcements. The battle is ongoing, and the fighting has become intense due to blockades in that area.” MDY-PDF troops after capturing the Shwe Marle pagoda camp in Singu Township on July 3 Civilians attempting to escape the violence said road closures had prevented them from travelling via the usual routes near the area of battle, forcing them to seek a different route. They claimed they instead had to flee via Kyauk Myaung, Sagaing Region on the opposite bank of the Ayeyarwady River to reach Mandalay via the Mandalay-Shwebo road. The MDY-PDF has also taken part in TNLA-led attacks on junta forces in Mogok Township, Mandalay Region and the northern Shan State towns of Kyaukme and Nawnghkio, where anti-junta forces have effectively taken control. The villages of Nwe Yon, Kyi Tauk Pauk, and Chaung Gyi—on the Mandalay-Thabeikkyin-Myitkyina highway in Singu and Thabeikkyin townships—are in an area known for gold extraction and have attracted a large labour force of mineworkers from across Myanmar.

Resistance fighters seize more army bases, police station in Mandalay Region

Mandalay-based resistance forces advanced after overrunning junta base camps in Madaya Township north of Mandalay on Tuesday, capturing more junta targets in Singu Township the next day

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