Resistance forces capture outpost, prisoners near Myanmar army’s northwestern regional headquarters

Anti-junta fighters claim to have taken five regime soldiers prisoner on Tuesday when they seized their base near Monywa, the Sagaing Region capital and site of the army’s Northwestern Regional Military Command (RMC) office. According to spokespersons for the Sagaing Region People's Defence Organization, resistance forces attacked an outpost manned by some 40 junta troops at around 5pm in the village of Htee Taw Tin, about a mile from the Northwestern RMC headquarters. The anti-junta fighters were able to take the base within 30 minutes, they claimed. Min Min, the commander of the resistance’s Union Liberation Front (ULF) column, said junta reinforcements arrived soon after the battle began. "The Northwestern Regional Command sent two columns of reinforcements. We had to engage quickly and the fight was quite rushed. We had the enemy coming from both sides and aircraft flying overhead when five junta soldiers surrendered to us,” Min Min said. He added the resistance forces had been preparing the attack on the junta outpost for more than a week, aware of how close it was to the regional headquarters. “For the operation, we had to train for a week to 10 days. The outpost is not far from the Northwestern RMC but after thorough reconnaissance, we decided to engage,” Min Min said. “We had to fight in a moving formation and because it was so close [to the RMC]. we had to use more troops.” The RMC office in Monywa is one of 14 regional command centres that the military operates throughout Myanmar. Resistance fighters based in Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin, Kani and Monywa townships were involved in the assault, according to a statement issued by the Sagaing Region PDO. About 20 junta soldiers were killed, with wounded soldiers and remaining troops withdrawing from the outpost, the statement said. Resistance sources also said two fighters were slightly injured during the battle. Myanmar Now was unable to verify the number of casualties from the clash independently. The PDO also claimed resistance forces were holding the captured junta soldiers in accordance with international law relating to the treatment of prisoners of war. The junta reinforcements deployed to the Htee Taw Tin outpost reportedly numbered around 100 men, and resistance sources allege that they set fire to the village after the clash, destroying around 20 civilian homes. The military council has made no public statements regarding the battle in Monywa Township or its aftermath, and Myanmar Now has been unable to reach junta spokespersons for comment. Resistance sources said the Htee Taw Tin base is one of several frontline military outposts in the area around the RMC headquarters, with others located in the nearby villages of Kyee Pa Don and Hpan Khar Kyin, Monywa Township.

Resistance forces capture outpost, prisoners near Myanmar army’s northwestern regional headquarters

Among the anti-junta forces were members of the Union Liberation Front (ULF) column and Sagaing Region People’s Defence Organisation (PDO) under the command of the publicly mandated National Unity Government

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