Three junta troops and a mutineer from Myanmar’s army died in a shootout in Tamu, Sagaing Region, on Tuesday night, according to residents.
The mutineer from Myanmar’s military, Ko Aung Aung, was providing security for a protest camp near Kuntaung Bridge when the security forces approached at around 7.30 pm on Tuesday.
“Shooting erupted and he died,” said a Tamu resident.
Following the shooting, members of the Tamu Security Group, a civilian resistance group which opposes military rule, used bombs against the security forces at an India-Myanmar friendship construction site, leaving three troops dead.
“As the security forces were going to Kuntaung Bridge, civilian resistance fighters attacked from the rear. The attackers said three soldiers died and two others were rescued in a critical condition,” said a TSG member.
On April 2, a striking policeman led civilian resistance fighters in an attack on the junta outpost. Five troops were killed in the attack and the policeman also died.
Ko Aung Aung, whose rank is unknown, reportedly joined the civil disobedience movement soon after the Feb. 1 coup. Around 50 soldiers and police officers have sided with the people in Tamu on the Indian border and have been fighting the junta alongside civilians.
The shootout on Tuesday was the first since April 12 when Myanmar’s military used heavy force against anti-regime protests in Tamu.
At least 15 junta troops have been killed by civilian resistance fighters from the Chinland Defence Force in Mindat in southern Chin State.
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