Resistance forces raid bases in western Bago Region

Resistance forces launched simultaneous attacks on several army and pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia outposts in the predawn hours on Wednesday near the Yangon-Pyay road in western Bago Region. The fighters, commanded by the publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG), claimed to have captured and torched a militia base camp in Zigon Township but were forced to retreat from engagements in the nearby townships of Nattalin, Minhla, and Letpandan. The attacks began around 4am in Minhla Township’s Tar Ka Lay village, with further assaults launched over the next hour or so at the militia camp in Zigon Township, army bases in Letpadan Township, and the Taungnyo police station in Nattalin Township. Strikes by junta paramotors and other aircraft ultimately forced the resistance fighters—all members of the NUG-commanded People’s Defence Forces (PDF)—to withdraw from all the battlefields except the Zigon Township camp. There were reportedly casualties among both the junta and resistance forces. The successful capture of the militia camp—located in Mee Kauk Pin village some 14 miles east of Zigon—began with an assault at around 5am, according to Karen Lay, a company commander in the Thayarwaddy District PDF Battalion 3801 (YOMA GBK PDF). “We dropped bombs at 5am using drones and shelled using heavy weapons before clearing the camp out,” Karen Lay said. “The fight itself lasted about an hour. Four of the enemy were killed during our raid on the village camp. The wounded were able to flee.” The resistance have remained in and around Mee Kauk Pin since overrunning and torching the village militia camp. A column of junta infantry reinforcements is reportedly advancing towards the village to retake the position, and fighting seems imminent, according to Karen Lay. Several other NUG-commanded resistance groups joined the YOMA GBK PDF’s operations on Wednesday, including companies 1 and 5 of the Thayarwaddy District Battalion 2, members of the Zigon Township People’s Defence Organization (PDO), and the Thayarwaddy District Drone Unit. The raids targeted the Pyu Saw Htee militia camp because the military and its allies had been forcing civilians to vote, extorting money for mandatory military service, and oppressing the people, according to a public statement released by the YOMA GBK PDF on Thursday. Karen Lay noted that, while the resistance fighters appeared to have inflicted high casualties on the junta and militia forces during the other assaults, the exact numbers were unclear because they were unable to gain ground. A fighter familiar with the details of the battle near Tar Ka Lay, northeast of the town of Sit Kwin in Minhla Township, confirmed that the fighting had been intense and the number of casualties was high. “It’s called Sit Kwin-Tar Ka Lay—the junta’s checkpoint near the Yangon-Pyay road,” he said. “There were intense exchanges of fire and many deaths on the enemy side, but our resistance comrades’ injuries were not life-threatening.” Although a resistance member was rumoured to have died in a junta airstrike on Wednesday, casualty figures from the fighting remain unconfirmed. A civilian resident of Pyay District said the clashes had quieted by Thursday, but locals feared fighting would resume and were fleeing the area anyway. Civilians have been fleeing in massive numbers from Bago Region’s Thayarwaddy and Nattalin districts since last month, when the Myanmar military began to mount a massive offensive near the Bago Yoma, a range of hills that had become a resistance stronghold. Resistance forces in western Bago Region have previously destroyed voter registration lists and discouraged local teachers, administrators, and civilians from voting or aiding in preparations for the elections, in addition to attacking road checkpoints and columns of soldiers on the move. Their recent operations in the area have aimed at deterring the junta-controlled elections in the area, Karen Lay said, noting that the authorities tended to set up polling stations where the military and pro-junta militias were strongest and therefore well-positioned to oversee the vote.

Resistance forces raid bases in western Bago Region

According to a locally based resistance company commander, fighters commanded by the publicly mandated National Unity Government have been coordinating their operations to deter and disrupt the military-controlled elections in the area

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