Three novice monks killed by shelling during clash outside Shwebo

Fighting erupted last Thursday near the town of Shwebo, Sagaing Region, resulting in casualties for both resistance and junta forces as well as the deaths of three novice monks, local resistance members said. An army column of around 100 troops reportedly set out towards the village of Ta Ga Nan from Shwebo that morning before encountering members of the People’s Defence Forces (PDF) around a mile south of the town. During the ensuing clash, junta forces at a logistics battalion base in Shwebo fired in the direction of the battlefield, and at least one shell landed and detonated inside the compound of the Aung Myay monastery in Ta Ga Nan. Three 14-year-old novice monks were killed in the explosion and seven people were injured, according to resistance and local sources. “The young monks had finished their lunch and were sleeping on the upper floor of the monastery building when a howitzer shell hit that building,” a spokesperson for the Shwebo Township People’s Defence Organisation (PDO) said. “Three novice monks died on the spot.” Another monk suffered severe injuries and is now in critical condition, according to a Shwebo Township resident. The military reportedly incurred some casualties during the battle, and two resistance fighters were killed. “One fighter was killed in the morning. Around midday, another one was killed by a shell while trying to retrieve weapons from an enemy’s body,” a resistance member said. Local sources said that a few junta soldiers were trapped in Ta Ga Nan and captured by the resistance when the rest of the column retreated towards Shwebo, but the number of prisoners is still unconfirmed. The military regime acknowledged the deaths of the three novice monks and reported that eight had been wounded, attributing the casualties to PDF rockets fired from Chi Par (South), a village around two miles west of Ta Ga Nan. The Myanmar military’s Infantry Battalion 42 and Light Infantry Division 33 bases are located in Shwebo, along with the Training Battalion 8 and Logistics Battalion 2 bases. Since the middle of this year, the junta has sent infantry columns on manoeuvres through various townships in Sagaing Region where resistance forces remain active, leading to frequent clashes. Resistance fighters recently assaulted a junta column in Khin-U Township to the north of Shwebo, capturing two prisoners as well as weapons and ammunition.

Three novice monks killed by shelling during clash outside Shwebo

When a battle broke out around a mile south of the town, a shell fired from a nearby junta base detonated on a monastery compound, according to resistance sources, killing the three novices

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