At least 25 Myanmar junta soldiers were reportedly killed in Saw Township, Magwe Region in a series of ambushes by a local resistance force last week.
Last Thursday, Kyaukhtu Regional PDF, which comprises Gangaw District PDF Battalions 8 and 9, used a cluster of 45 land mines to ambush 108 troops of the military’s Light Infantry Battalion 274 and three military vehicles heading to Mi Al Village, the PDF group said.
At least 10 regime forces were killed in the ambush.
Another soldier was killed and four injured when the PDF group again ambushed the detachment using three more land mines at a separate location.
On Saturday, the PDF used 10 more land mines to ambush 170 troops of Light Infantry Battalion 274 and another military detachment near Mi Al Village who were returning to their base in the town of Kyaukhtu.
In the ambush, six more soldiers were killed and four injured, Kyaukhtu Regional PDF claimed.
Another eight soldiers were killed when resistance fighters used heavy explosives and firearms to attack regime forces loading the bodies of killed and injured soldiers into vehicles at the ambush site.
The military detachments faced two more land-mine ambushes in two locations while returning to their base in Kyaukhtu town. Many regime forces are thought to have been killed or injured in those attacks.
Kyaukhtu Regional PDF also released a photo of a dead soldier who had been buried by junta troops.
The Irrawaddy was unable to independently confirm the number of military casualties.
There were no resistance casualties, the PDF group claimed.
The Myanmar junta is facing escalating attacks by PDFs and many ethnic armed organizations, who have vowed to uproot military rule in 2023.
