Myanmar junta forces have arrested around 25 residents of Meiktila in Mandalay Region, following a bomb attack on a military truck on Monday that killed one policeman and left another four seriously injured.
The bomb blast in downtown Meiktila took place after a march by regime supporters. Two men on a motorbike threw a bomb into the military truck. A local civilian resistance force, the Zero Army, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Immediately after the incident, junta forces opened fire randomly, blocked all roads and arrested five people.
On Monday night, regime troops raided homes in Chan Aye, Wunzin and Myoma wards of Meiktila, arresting around 20 people, most of them young, according to local residents.
“They searched house by house and grabbed them,” said sources close to those arrested, adding that they had no idea where the detainees were taken.
Since the military’s February coup, the regime has arrested 9,223 people for their involvement in anti-regime protests or resistance activities, according to monitoring groups.
At the same time, junta forces have been targeted nationwide by civilian resistance groups, known as People’s Defense Forces, formed after the regime’s lethal crackdowns on peaceful anti-coup protesters. The civilian fighters have vowed to topple the military regime.
Resistance to the junta has gained momentum since the parallel National Unity Government’s (NUG) call in September for a nationwide defensive war against the regime.
The NUG’s Defence Ministry said that 768 junta soldiers have been killed over the last month, although The Irrawaddy was unable to verify that number independently.
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