At least 35 Myanmar junta forces including pro-regime militia members and a junta informant were killed in the last two days in attacks by People’s Defense Force (PDF) groups and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) in Sagaing and Tanintharyi Regions and Mon and Karen states.
Meanwhile, over 7,000 residents have been forced to flee their homes due to junta attacks targeting civilians in Sagaing, and several thousand ethnic Chin residents of Matupi are feared to be suffering food shortages due to a junta siege there.
The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks by PDFs and EAOs as well as junta atrocities.
10 junta soldiers killed, injured in PDF drone strikes in Karen
The Federal Wings group conducts drone strikes on a junta outpost in Myawaddy Township, Karen State on Tuesday. / Federal Wings
Two regime soldiers were killed and eight others including an army officer were seriously injured in drone strikes conducted by a resistance group during a clash in Myawaddy Township, Karen State on Tuesday, according to the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)’s Cobra Column.
A fierce clash broke out on the Myawaddy-Wal Lay highway when the KNLA and allied resistance groups attacked regime forces attempting to occupy an area with 120-mm artillery support from a junta outpost in Phaluu.
In the afternoon, the Federal Wings resistance group conducted drone strikes against regime forces of Tactical Battalion 441 stationed on a hilltop in the township. Military casualties are unknown, however.
Aerial video shows terrified regime forces fleeing and seeking shelter after being bombed by a PDF drone.
20 junta soldiers killed in PDF ambush in Tanintharyi
A total of 20 junta soldiers were reportedly killed in Palaw Township, Tanintharyi Region on Monday when PDF-Myeik District and allied resistance groups ambushed two military vehicles on the Palaw-Myeik highway near Kadae Village, said Palaw-PDF, which was involved in the ambush.
The resistance groups also used land mines to ambush a detachment of reinforcements traveling to the conflict zone.
During the ambushes, at least 20 junta soldiers and two civilians out of three who had been taken along with the troops were killed, said the PDF groups.
Three pro-regime militia members killed in Tanintharyi
Launglone-PDF claimed to have killed three pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia members-—U Thaung Naing, Ko Min Naing and Daw Tin Shein—near a village in Launglon Township, Tanintharyi Region on Tuesday afternoon.
The victims were accused of committing violence against local residents. A gun, mobile phones, some cash and documents were seized from the militias, the PDF group said.
Five junta soldiers killed in PDF ambush on military flotilla in Sagaing
Smoke pours from a junta transport vessel during an attack by several PDF groups in Kani Township, Sagaing Region on Monday. / KLG-PDF
Five regime forces were gunned down by resistance snipers in Kani Township, Sagaing Region on Monday when several resistance groups from Kani and neighboring Yinmabin Township ambushed a military flotilla of 13 boats on the Chindwin River, said Kyauk Lone Gyi-PDF, which joined the attack.
The flotilla was reportedly transporting food and ammunition to the northern part of the country from Monywa. The PDF groups said a vessel caught fire after being attacked.
Video shows smoke pouring from a vessel during a firefight.
Four junta policemen killed in Sagaing
Resistance group Salingyi Generation-Z claimed on Tuesday that four junta policemen from Nyaung Phyu Pin Police Station were killed in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region on Monday when it and two other PDF groups attacked the policemen as they went outside to go shopping.
In the attack, four weapons, a grenade and ammunition were seized by the PDF groups.
Some 7,500 villagers forced to flee homes in Sagaing
Around 7,500 civilians from four villages in Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region have been forced to flee their homes after a military detachment of 60 junta soldiers raided the villages on Tuesday morning, residents told The Irrawaddy.
During the raid, regime forces used heavy explosives to attack the village.
Chin residents fear food shortages due to weeks-long junta siege
Residents of the mountaintop town of Matupi in Chin State fear food shortages as the military regime has completely blockaded the town for two weeks, local media outlet Zalen reported on Tuesday.
The entry of people and goods has been blocked since Sept. 20, a day after a military checkpoint near the town was attacked by the Chin Defense Force-Matupi.
People from rural areas have been stranded in Matupi and prices of commodities are rising daily due to a halt in the flow of goods to and from the town, the media outlet quoted residents as saying.
Junta informant killed in Mon State
Accused junta informant U Aung Myint, 40, was killed by the Mon State Revolutionary Organization (MSRO) at his house in a village in Ye Township, Mon State on Tuesday morning, the resistance group told the media.
Based on information supplied by U Aung Myint, military forces attacked MSRO resistance fighters who were repairing vehicles outside a village in the township on March 18. In the raid, a PDF fighter and a 14-year-old boy were killed and two weapons, two motorbikes and another vehicle were seized by junta forces, a member of the MSRO said on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
The PDF group said it assassinated the informant in reprisal for the March 18 attack.
