Dozens of junta soldiers killed in Karenni territory in recent weeks, resistance forces say

Karenni anti-coup forces estimate that around 70 junta troops were killed between mid-July and late August, but acknowledge that exact numbers are not known

Myanmar Now

Published on Sep 2, 2021

Karenni Army troops seen in Loikaw on July 12 (KNIC)

At least 70 junta troops were killed during fighting in ethnic Karenni territory between mid-July and the end of August, local resistance groups estimate, noting that the exact number of soldiers and police killed is not known.

From July 12 until August 31, around 30 clashes took place in Bawlakhe, Hpruso, Demoso and Loikaw townships in Kayah State and in Pinlaung and Pekhon in southern Shan State—all areas with large ethnic Karenni populations.

Spokespersons for the Karenni Defence Force (KNDF) and the Pekhon People’s Defence Force (PDF) told Myanmar Now that 70 casualties was a conservative guess and that the actual number of deaths on the junta’s side could be even higher.

“Take last night’s battle [in Loikaw] for example. We could see them getting hit and some of them falling to their deaths but we can’t count the exact number of deaths as it’s really difficult,” a KNDF spokesperson told Myanmar Now on Wednesday.

mmnowelectionads.jpg

During the six-week period in question, the local resistance forces claimed that one PDF member from southern Shan State had been killed and others injured, a figure they attributed to the clashes largely being PDF ambushes on the junta’s armed forces.

The junta has not released any information regarding casualties suffered by its armed forces during fighting in Kayah and southern Shan States.

There was lull in fighting in Karenni territory in the second half of June, but the Karenni Army (KA)—the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party—and its local resistance force allies resumed fighting against the military in early July. Those forces include the KNDF, and multiple PDF groups, including those from Pekhon, Moebye and Demoso.

“I think they’re attacking this region in an attempt to seize control over the KA territory,” the spokesperson for the KNDF said.

On August 14, the KNDF stated that five troops from the military and six from the junta-allied Pa’O National Army fighting alongside the military died in a clash with Karenni joint forces in Pinlaung Township.

“The number could be higher as we saw that many of our landmines were triggered,” the Pekhon PDF spokesperson speculated, adding that both the presence of the mines and the shrub-covered landscape made it dangerous for troops to venture into frontline territory after the battle to get a more accurate figure.

Photos posted on social media by both PDFs and locals have shown junta troops using civilians as guides, porters, and human shields, being forced to walk on leashes during battles in Pekhon and Pinlaung.

Throughout the month of August, the PDFs launched multiple attacks on junta infrastructure. This included a bombing of the Pekhon City Hall on August 2, which killed two police officers, and bombs planted at the Loikaw showroom and headquarters of military-backed telecommunications provider Mytel. A Mytel tower was also targeted in a blast on August 23 in Demoso.

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

Donate

Independent media is under attack in Myanmar... help us hold the powerful to account.

Donate Now

Eight Myanmar army soldiers defect to Chinland Defence Force

Chin resistance forces based in Hakha and Mindat claim that the junta troops surrendered their weapons to them

Myanmar Now

Published on Sep 23, 2021

Myanmar demonstrators flash the three-finger salute as armed soldiers walk before them during an anti-coup protest in Yangon on February 15 (EPA)

The Chinland Defence Force (CDF) claims that there are now eight soldiers who have deserted the Myanmar army and joined their resistance group over the last two months.

The CDF attributed the troops’ defection to the group’s offer of a financial reward and safe passage across the border or to elsewhere in Myanmar for those abandoning the junta’s armed forces.

On September 16, the Hakha-based chapter of the CDF announced that any soldier surrendering their light weapons and ammunition would be granted 5m kyat (US$2,683). For heavy weapons and ammunition, the reward increased to 10m kyat ($5,367), and for state-owned vehicles, 50m kyat ($26,836).

“We kept our end of the promise. We actually gave 5m kyat to those who came to us with weapons,” a CDF-Hakha spokesperson told Myanmar Now, adding that there had been three such defections.

He said all three were ranked as privates and two were locals from Hakha, but he would not elaborate further.

Some officers also deserted the junta’s police force, he added, but most who joined the CDF did not bring their weapons with them.

“We arranged safe transportation for them. We can arrange safe passage whether they want to go to their villages or to Mizoram in India. We take responsibility for them until they’ve arrived in a safe place,” the CDF-Hakha spokesperson said.

The exact number of the police officers who have left their posts has not been disclosed.

A guerrilla group representing the Monywa People’s Defence Force and calling themselves “Thanmani and Members” released a statement on September 19 saying that a junta soldier who was on guard at the Myanma Economic Bank in Monywa surrendered himself and his weapons to them; he was transferred to the CDF in Hakha later that day.

h_56699298.jpg

Soldiers are deployed during an anti-coup protest near the National League for Democracy headquarters in Yangon on February 15 (EPA)

A member of the anti-dictatorship Mindat People’s Administration Team said that there were five Myanmar army soldiers who had surrendered their weapons to the township’s CDF chapter since the announcement of a 5m kyat reward by the group in August. Their ranks were not disclosed.

Some of those troops joined forces with the resistance after the National Unity Government’s September announcement declaring a nationwide armed revolt against the military council, urging soldiers to defect to the side of the people.

However, a CDF-Mindat officer told Myanmar Now that the announcement had not yet caused mass defections in the area.

“I can imagine that it is hard for them to desert. It’s especially hard for them to desert along with their weapons,” he said.

Cpt Nyi Thuta, one of the first officers in Myanmar’s military to leave his post after the February 1 coup, told Myanmar Now that if soldiers flee with their weapons, it becomes easier to get caught.

“It would be especially difficult if the soldier had to use public transportation. Apart from those at the front lines and those on security duty, many deserters have just pretended to go to the market when they’re in fact leaving,” he explained.

The captain said he was encouraging others to leave the military and had been helping soldiers interested in defecting to contact the revolutionary forces.

“These [offers] are a great chance for the soldiers who do not wish to fight against the civilians,” said Cpt Nyi Thuta said, referring to rewards like those promised by the CDF.

Cost of weapons

Tun Myat Aung, another captain who has abandoned the military, told Myanmar Now that a soldier typically is issued a rifle, 240 bullets, a grenade and a landmine.

A soldier who has been issued an assault rifle would have 400 bullets, and one who has a machine gun would have 1,500 larger bullets.

The average soldier’s arms are worth between 1m and 1.5m kyat ($537 - $805), he explained, but the local defence forces often have to pay five times that for the same weaponry on the black market.

According to the resistance forces, the shortage of weapons often means that deserting soldiers frequently cannot join the battles against the junta and must remain under watch.

As many as 1,500 Myanmar army soldiers have deserted the military since the coup; many are privates and sergeants, but there are also more than 100 second lieutenants and majors who have been encouraging defection, according to officers who already left.

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

Donate

Independent media is under attack in Myanmar... help us hold the powerful to account.

Donate Now

Pa-O fighters in Shan help junta capture base from resistance forces

The Aungban Special Defence Force had to retreat but said it killed two soldiers from the junta’s side during the clash

Myanmar Now

Published on Sep 23, 2021

Anti-junta resistance fighters in southern Shan state (Supplied)

Fighters from the Pa-O National Army (PNA) teamed up with the Myanmar military in Shan State last week to capture a base from local resistance fighters, members of the anti-junta group have told Myanmar Now.

A coalition force of at least 100 pro-junta troops attacked members of the Aungban Special Defence Force (ASDF) at their temporary base near Nawng Ye village, about seven miles from the town of Aungban, on September 18, the ASDF said.

The resistance fighters were forced to retreat amid a barrage of explosions and gunfire that started at around 8am, an ASDF member said. “They employed both snipers and mortars. We had to retreat after an hour as they had much more firepower than us,” he said.

The ASDF suffered no casualties but killed two pro-junta soldiers and injured another three during the clash, he said. Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify those figures.

The junta’s coalition fired at least 50 shells at the base during the clash and burnt it down after the resistance fighters fled, he added.

“[They] exchanged shots on the hills. The traffic was blocked, it’s now back to normal though,” said a witness who was on the road connecting Aungban to Pindaya during the clash.

The ASDF says it has formed alliances with local people’s defence forces based in Taunggyi, Aye Thar Yar, Shwe Nyaung and Kalaw.

The day after the clash, junta forces detained some Nawng Ye villagers and forced them to act as guides in the area, a member of a local social services organisation said. The villagers have since been released but people in the area are still very worried, they added.

Junta forces have been carrying out strict security checks on roads in Aungban, Kalaw, Pindaya, Ywar Ngan and Taunggyi in recent days.

Two other sources in Aungban said they estimated that about 200 military and PNA troops were stationed in the villages of Nawng Ye, Loi Sawng, U Hmin and elsewhere, and have been looking for local resistance fighters in the surrounding forests.

The ASDF member said the resistance forces are in a safe place. “We’re keeping our spirits up although we lost one of our bases. We’re going to come back stronger. We’re not going to give up,” he said.

The junta has not commented on the clash and the PNA could not be reached for comment.

In August, the coup regime began asking junta-aligned armed groups in southern Shan State–including the PNA and the Mat Kyeng (Marrkieng), Nayai, Nar Pwe and Homein militias–to supply reinforcements to the Myanmar military.

Earlier this month the ASDF claimed responsibility for the bombing of Mytel communications towers, a township administration office, a police station and the house of an alleged military informant. Myanmar Now was unable to obtain further details about the attacks.

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

Donate

Independent media is under attack in Myanmar... help us hold the powerful to account.

Donate Now

Junta forces in Kalay arrest and kill man accused of making guns for resistance fighters

A family friend said Kyaw Min Oo, who owned a welding and lathing workshop, had never made weapons or been involved in armed resistance to the coup regime

Myanmar Now

Published on Sep 23, 2021

A family friend believes Kyaw Min Oo, 40, was killed during interrogation by soldiers (Supplied)

A man died in junta custody after he was detained at his welding shop in Sagaing Region earlier this month on suspicion of making guns to supply resistance groups fighting to overthrow the dictatorship.

Kyaw Min Oo, 40, was arrested at his business in the industrial zone of Kalay Township, where he offered metal welding services and owned lathes, machines used to shape metal or wood.

Some 40 soldiers and 20 police officers arrived at the workshop at around 8am on September 14 and detained Kyaw Min Oo along with two other men, a family friend said. The soldiers found a metal pipe during a search and accused the men of making muskets.

The other detainees were a man named Shwe Lin and a neighbour of Kyaw Min Oo’s who was ethnically Chin, the friend said, adding that he did not know the name of the latter. The two men’s whereabouts are unknown.

“They didn’t hit anyone during the arrests,” the friend said. “They started interrogating them in front of everyone. They said they would release them later, but in truth we couldn’t even meet them in person anymore. We couldn’t send them food or clothes either.”

Kyaw Min Oo was against the coup but had not taken part in any form of armed resistance and had never made weapons at his workshop, the friend said.

Many people in Sagaing own rudimentary, locally made hunting rifles. In the wake of the February 1 coup the region’s residents were among the first to take up arms against the military.

Five days after his arrest, on September 18, an officer from the regional military headquarters in Kalay notified the family via local administrators that Kyaw Min Oo had died.

“When they asked them to give the body back, they said that they’d already cremated him,” the friend said. “I fully believe that he was killed during interrogation as he was a strong man who could withstand harsh work.”

“The dictators were never humane,” he added. “We will only be able to live in peace if all the dictators are gone.”

Kyaw Min Oo had been running the workshop for 13 years. He left behind a wife and two children, aged 5 and 12. On Tuesday his family offered food to monks in his name.

Several other people have been detained and killed by junta forces in Kalay in recent months. Around 90 others remain in custody after being detained in the town, according to locals and relatives of the detainees.

As of Wednesday, the junta has killed at least 1,114 civilians, including over 30 who died during interrogation, according to the latest tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Flash mob style protests have continued in Kalay almost daily despite the arrests and killings.

A resident of the town told Myanmar Now that the killings would not stop people from fighting the junta. “Everyone’s revolting against them in every way that they can. No one’s going to back down just because they killed someone,” he said.

“Everyone knows they’ve been terrorising the people and their fear mongering tactics are obviously not working; the people are not backing down,” he added. “If anything, they’re going to revolt against them even harder.”