A resistance force seized control of and destroyed a junta police station in Magway Region’s Pauk Township on Tuesday morning, guerrilla fighters said.
The Southern Pauk People’s Defence Force (PDF) and other local resistance groups collaborated in attacking the site in Kaing Lel village, 18 miles south of Pauk’s administrative centre.
“We torched the station right after we seized control of it,” a Southern Pauk PDF officer said, adding that their initial assault lasted two hours. “However, more junta reinforcements arrived in two helicopters while our people were retreating.”
A Pauk local said that the helicopters were seen landing in the area and dropping off soldiers who then headed towards the site of the clash.
Some of the resistance fighters were unable to flee the scene, the Southern Pauk PDF officer said, noting that the defence forces had suffered casualties in the battle but did not disclose a number.
Videos shared on social media show members of the Southern Pauk PDF interrogating a police private captured in the attack, with the police station burning in the background.
Locals have claimed that junta troops stationed at the police post in question were among those who carried out raids on villages including Pin Taung and Tat Kone, in which they were accompanied by residents who were members of the pro-military Pyu Saw Htee militia.
The police and Pyu Saw Htee allies reportedly went on to attack and burn other villages in the area.
In total, junta forces have torched more than 20 communities in southern Pauk since three military trucks carrying arms parts were intercepted by resistance groups in early April.
Seven of those 20 villages were completely destroyed, locals said, and 12 civilians killed.
![Resistance fighters holding heavy weapons ammunition in central Myanmar. (Photo: Freedom Revolution Force [FRF])](https://myanmar-now.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/04/438869056_443267851680128_1706386881626943924_n-390x220.jpeg)
