A convoy of regime vessels on Chindwin River has been attacked twice by resistance forces since it departed Sagaing Region’s Monywa Township on Wednesday, according to the resistance groups.
A junta convoy comprising three battleships and fifteen vessels carrying jade, copper and wood was attacked in Salingyi Township by a combined force of six resistance groups with heavy weapons, Chindwin Dynamite resistance force said.
Resistance forces in the same township also used heavy weapons to shell a battleship in this convoy, with one shell hitting the back of the battleship.
“We saw the smoke from the back of a battleship. There may be casualties among junta troops, but we don’t know yet,” a representative of Chindwin Dynamite force told The Irrawaddy.
The flotilla opened fire toward the bank of the river, but there were no casualties among resistance forces, he added.
The villages on the bank of the river were fired upon by the regime vessels. Pagodas, other religious buildings and some houses were destroyed, according to the Anya Pyitinehtaung, a local aid group.
The group warned people living in villages along the Chindwin River to be alert for the regime’s convoy, which they said is shelling villages on both sides of the river.
The junta has relied on river routes to transport troops and supplies to upper Myanmar amid the frequent attacks by resistance groups along land routes.
In early September, resistance forces attacked a military flotilla transporting rations, weapons, ammunition and fuel from Pakokku Township to Sagaing Region.
