Resistance forces attack pro-junta militia bases in central Myanmar

Anti-junta fighters have carried out assaults on central Myanmar villages dominated by junta-trained militias since last week, according to local sources and resistance spokespersons, acting in coordination with the recent relaunch of the Operation 1027 offensive. On Wednesday, resistance fighters captured a base belonging to the Pyu Saw Htee—militia units made up of civilians armed and trained by the Myanmar military—in Aung Thar village in Magway Region’s Pakokku Township. Resistance forces have also launched attacks on Pyu Saw Htee bases in Mandalay Region’s Myingyan and Taungtha townships starting on July 11. The All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) Column 3—an armed anti-junta resistance group—announced the capture of the Aung Thar base in a statement released on Thursday along with photos showing 10 junta prisoners and weapons and ammunition seized during the battle. The prisoners of war seen in the photo released by ABSDF (ABSDF Column 3) The resistance forces later withdrew from the outpost following an exchange of fire with around 100 reinforcement troops that the junta had deployed to Pakokku Township. “We ultimately weren’t able to hold the base, but our assault on the village’s Pyu Saw Htee forces was a success,” said Pyae Phyo Kyaw, a spokesperson for ABSDF Column 3. “The village is close to Pakokku and there are also other Pyu Saw Htee villages between Pakokku and Aung Thar, so we couldn’t keep up the fight for long and simply attacked them swiftly, seized weapons, and retreated,” the spokesperson added. Resistance forces also carried out an assault on Monday morning on militia forces stationed in Kyauk Kan village, around 11 miles northeast of Myingyan and seven miles from the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River, according to an officer of the Myingyan Township People’s Defence Forces (PDF). Junta forces based in Myingyan responded with heavy artillery targeting the village and forcing the ABSDF and PDF fighters to abandon the attempted capture of the militia base, the officer said. “They fired off howitzer rounds and sent around 200 reinforcement troops so we had to retreat. We didn’t even manage to seize weapons,” he added. The reinforcement troops reportedly tortured and killed one civilian and took around 12 others hostage, according to the Myingyan Township PDF officer. The slain victim was identified as Maung Hla, a displaced man in his 30s staying in Tu Ywin Boet village, Myingyan Township. His body, covered with injuries from torture, was found near the cemetery on the west side of Thit Yon village, Myingyan Township on Tuesday, the officer said. The body of Maung Hla Tu Ywin Boet and Thit Yon village are both just southwest of Kyauk Kan village on the way to Myingyan. “His face was swollen and there was a huge hole in his armpit,” the Myingyan Township PDF officer said, describing Maung Hla’s injuries. “They also cut the tendons behind his knee joint.” The junta column captured two Thit Yon villagers as well as 10 residents from Tu Ywin Boet village, according to the Myingyan PDF officer, ultimately taking two of the captives from Tu Ywin Boet to the army’s Light Infantry Battalion 15 base in Myingyan. The military council also reportedly sent more reinforcements to Kyauk Kan and deployed special reconnaissance personnel around the village’s periphery, he added. Anti-junta forces also captured the Pyu Saw Htee-controlled village of Kywe Ta Lin last week in Taungtha Township, Mandalay Region, directly south of Myingyan Township. The resistance fighters initiated their attacks on the village, where around 40 Pyu Saw Htee members were stationed, on July 11, taking four of the militia members prisoner after two hours of fighting and seizing a cache of weapons and ammunition, according to a Taungtha Township PDF spokesperson. Mandalay-based militia troops seen during training, as posted by pro-junta propaganda Telegram channels on July 12 (Photo: Telegram) Anti-junta forces managed to hold the militia outpost, located strategically on the line between Taungtha and Mahlaing townships, for several days before the military retook it. “We managed to take over the base but couldn’t stay there for long. The military retaliated and I’m informed they’ve now regained control,” the spokesperson said. Taungtha Township, an area with a heavy Pyu Saw Htee presence, is also the home township of Aung Thaung, a prominent member of the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party who died in 2015. Resistance forces have been targeting Pyu Saw Htee strongholds in Mandalay Region’s Myingyan District—which includes Myingyan, Natogyi, and Taungtha townships—since early July, shortly after the Brotherhood Alliance, a grouping of anti-junta ethnic armed organisations, relaunched the Operation 1027 offensive against the Myanmar military in late June. While concentrated mostly in northern Shan State, the Brotherhood Alliance forces involved in Operation 1027 have also attacked junta positions and taken over territory from the army in neighbouring parts of Mandalay Region. Although they planned their assaults to coincide with the Brotherhood Alliance’s offensive, the attacks on Pyu Saw Htee bases in central Myanmar are also a response to the abuses the military and Pyu Saw Htee militias commit locally, according to ABSDF Column 3 spokesperson Pyae Phyo Kyaw. Six civilians, including elderly and sick people, were killed and some 50 houses were destroyed on July 10 when military forces torched the villages of Letwe and Myinni in Natogyi Township after resistance forces intercepted and ambushed a column of junta troops. According to Pyae Phyo Kyaw, resistance forces felt they had to attack the Pyu Saw Htee-controlled villages and bases in retaliation not only for the militias’ attacks on neighbouring villages, but also their frequent robberies and assaults committed against villagers in Pakokku Township. “They would stop cars, get inside, and take cash, jewelry, and mobile phones. They even took longyis from trucks returning from the markets and seized hair-tying ribbons and makeup boxes during their raids,” the ABSDF spokesperson said. Pakokku-based ABSDF troops returning from the front lines (ABSDF Column 3) Locals also alleged that around 10 junta soldiers and 30 Pyu Saw Htee members based in Kyauk Kan village had stopped cars on the road between Myingyan and Tada-U, Mandalay Region to extort money from travellers. The Taungtha PDF spokesperson noted how challenges facing resistance forces in central Myanmar prevent them from mounting coordinated attacks on a larger scale. “We still don’t have enough weapons, so we’re trying to make our attacks as effective as we can and resisting the military as much as we can,” the spokesperson said. “And besides the scarcity of weapons, there are also tensions and rivalries between different anti-junta groups.”

Resistance forces attack pro-junta militia bases in central Myanmar

The groups have targeted Pyu Saw Htee-controlled villages in Mandalay and Magway regions for several weeks, partly to coordinate with the second phase of Operation 1027 and partly to respond to the militias’ local abuses

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