At least 30 junta troops were reportedly killed during two shootouts with civilian resistance forces in Kani and Yinmabin townships, Sagaing Region, on Tuesday, according to residents.
On Tuesday, around 1,000 civilian resistance fighters using homemade rifles attacked about 60 junta troops deployed at Tayaw Kyin village beside the Monywa-Kalaywa Highway. The village is near the border of Kani and Yinmabin townships in Sagaing Region.
Junta troops remain deployed in the village since the raid.
During the six-hour shootout, about 10 junta troops were killed, a villager who was involved in the fighting told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
Other resistance forces from the two townships also ambushed about 60 junta reinforcement from Monywa traveling to Tayaw Kyin village to help their defeated colleagues.
The junta reinforcements also triggered about five landmines on the Monywa-Kalaywa highway between Tayar Kyin and Bant Bway villages.
About 15 to 20 junta troops were killed, according to witnesses. In retribution, the security forces burned about eight houses near Bant Bway.
More than 100 junta reinforcements on Wednesday were searching forests near the villages.
“They are searching all houses beside the highway and the forests. They open fire at random,” a civilian resistance member said.
Shootouts between the regime’s troops and resistance fighters started in the area on April 2.
Several thousand villagers in Kani Township have fled their homes to avoid the fighting and regime raids.
Guerilla attack
Two junta police officers were reportedly killed by the civilian resistance Zero Guerilla Force during a raid on a police outpost in Mandalay Region’s Nagzon Township on Tuesday night.
A member of the group told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that 25 fighters raided the Min Nay Gon outpost in Nganzon Township on Tuesday night.
During the 20-minute firefight, two officers, including a police captain, were killed and the resistance fighters managed to retreat without casualties, the source said. Fifteen police officers were unharmed.
However, The Irrawaddy was not able to independently confirm the police casualties.
Zero Guerilla Force has attacked junta forces in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region, on several occasions. Last Friday, it shot dead a traffic police officer in Myingyan.
An army major and captain were shot dead by the group in the town on May 27 and June 3.
“We are the force to fight injustice. We will never accept the military regime. We have vowed to fight everything junta-related,” said the member.
Junta detainees
Nine civilians, including a family of six, were detained by junta forces during a house raid in Monywa Township, Sagaing Region, on Monday.
After being accused of supplying the People’s Defense Forces, tutor U Tin Myint Soe and his five family members, including a six-year-old girl, were detained along with three house guests by the junta forces during the Aye Tharyar Ward raid.
On Tuesday, the girl was reportedly released but the whereabouts of the other eight are unknown.
Junta-controlled newspapers said all the detainees were planning to supply the PDF in Kani Township.
A source, who knows the family, said they were planning to donate humanitarian aid to Kin Ma village in Pauk Township, Magwe Region, which was burned down after a clash between junta forces and resistance fighters on June 15.
“I condemn the junta for seizing people who are trying to help others. Helping each other is not a crime,” the source told The Irrawaddy.
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