Six junta soldiers were killed and many others wounded by civilian resistance fighters in Mandalay Region’s Mogoke Township on Monday.
In the morning, civilian resistance fighters of the People’s Defense Force-Mogoke and troops from the ethnic armed group the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) ambushed the troops from the military’s Battalion 148 near Ho Weit Village in the east of the township.
PDF-Mogoke said in a statement that the clash occurred as the junta troops attempted to raid an area controlled by the PDF in the township.
During the firefight, six junta soldiers were killed and many others were injured while no casualties were reported on the side of the combined forces of the PDF-Mogoke and the KIA, according to the statement from the resistance force, which was formed by Mogoke youths in May.
The Irrawaddy was unable to independently confirm the military casualties, however.
Myanmar has seen armed resistance mounted by civilians since late March, after the military regime’s forces began killing peaceful anti-coup protesters.
As of Monday, since the Feb. 1 coup, the military regime had killed almost 1,000 people during its crackdowns, raids, arrests, interrogations and random shootings. More than 7,300 people including elected government leaders have been arrested by the junta.
Currently, ongoing clashes between civilian resistance forces and junta troops are being reported in Mandalay, Sagaing and Magwe regions and Chin, Shan, Kachin and Kayah states.
In July alone, more than 740 junta soldiers were killed and almost 370 wounded during 355 shootouts, assassinations and bombing attacks involving ethnic armed forces and civilian People’s Defense Forces across the country, according to a statement from Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG).
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