Four resistance fighters died in an accident involving their own explosives in Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region, on Wednesday, according to a representative of their guerrilla force to which they belonged.
According to the Naga Nyi Naung group, the men—who were all in their 20s—were killed at the border of Khin-U and Shwebo townships while preparing to set up the devices along the highway connecting the cities of Shwebo and Myitkyina. The intended target of the explosives was a junta unit travelling ahead of a convoy transporting jade from Kachin State, of which Myitkyina is the capital.
“There were only around 30 soldiers in that column, which was a number we could definitely go up against in a fight,” an officer in Naga Nyi Naung. “A group of our troops were waiting in position to attack while the explosives team prepared the devices at the base. The devices accidentally detonated and killed four members of that team.”
The victims were identified as Bike Ka Lay, Dat Bu, Nay Lin Khant and Gadoo. One of the men, although Myanmar Now was unable to confirm which individual, was also said to be a member of a local anti-junta defence team in nearby Than Bo village. The group has been working alongside Naga Nyi Naung and the township chapter of the People’s Defence Force (PDF), which operates under the publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG).
Naga Nyi Naung and the Than Bo village defence team stated that despite their alliance with the NUG armed wing, they have been required to procure and produce their own weapons, ammunition and explosives, a practice relied upon heavily by resistance groups in Sagaing in their armed revolt against the Myanmar military regime.
Because of this, the Khin-U forces said they have lost several members in accidents like the one that occurred on Wednesday.
In the third week of June, in the village of Gway Kone, five members of the community’s defence team and two civilians were injured when explosives also detonated accidentally.
The NUG delivered several weapons to PDF battalions in neighbouring Magway Region on June 24 in an attempt to better arm these forces.
