Junta Soldiers Killed; Social Media Users Boycott Myanmar Coup Leader’s Parade
By The Irrawaddy 14 February 2022
Around 40 Myanmar junta soldiers were reportedly killed by People’s Defense Forces (PDF) over the weekend, as coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing presided over a grand military parade on Saturday in the capital Naypyitaw to mark Union Day.
PDFs attacked regime forces in Naypyitaw, Magwe, Sagaing, Mandalay and Yangon regions.
At least four regime troops were killed on Saturday in Naypyitaw when a combined force of resistance groups conducted three operations targeting regime forces.
On Saturday morning, three regime soldiers were killed when the combined PDFs attacked the general administration office in Pyinmana Township, Naypyitaw using M79 grenade launchers, said the Sittaung Urban Guerrilla Force (Naypyitaw), one of the groups involved in the attack.
The PDFs also attacked the Pyinmana office of the military-backed Union Solidarity Development Party. A fourth junta soldier was reported to have been killed on Saturday during an attack on the Myanmar military-owned Myawaddy Bank in Pyinmana.
A resistance group also attacked the police station in Zabuthiri Township, Naypyitaw on Friday night.
Also on Saturday, millions of Myanmar netizens organized a boycott of social media coverage of the junta’s grand military review staged in Naypyitaw on Saturday, ensuring that no news or photos relating to the parade appeared on social media.
Early on Saturday, an intense clash between 300 regime troops traveling in a convoy of 16 vehicles and a combined force of five resistance groups from Magwe Region and Chin State broke out at the border of Magwe and Chin State.
20 military regime soldiers were killed and the convoy was halted for some hours due to the attack, said Yaw Defense Force, which took part in the firefight.
At 1am on Saturday, two PDFs attacked regime forces stationed at Yangyi Aung Village in the south of Kale Township, Sagaing Region.
During two hours of fighting, the military’s base camp was damaged and the regime forces suffered many casualties. The resistance fighters escaped without any casualties, said the Chinland Defense Force-KKG, one of the groups involved.
Another combined force of PDFs from Theton and Bago claimed to have killed five regime soldiers when they raided Theton in Bago Region at 5am on Saturday.
Also on Saturday, a combined force of five resistance groups based in Yinmabin Township, Sagaing Region used drones to bomb the township police station and district general administration office.
A video shows a drone dropping homemade bombs on regime targets.
The resistance groups estimated that there were some junta casualties from the attacks.
At around the same time on Saturday, two resistance groups in Yangon attacked a military vehicle heading to police battalion 9 in Hlaing Tharyar Township, Yangon with remote controlled-bombs. The vehicle was damaged and turned back, said From Zero to Hero, one of the PDFs involved in the ambush.
PDFs also continued to attack regime forces in townships in Sagaing and Mandalay regions on Sunday, killing at least 11 regime troops and injuring many others.
On Sunday evening, Natogyi-PDF claimed to have killed two junta soldiers when it ambushed a regime patrol in Natogyi Township, Mandalay Region.
Video shows regime troops on motorbikes being ambushed with mines and firearms.
During the ambush, regime troops abandoned four motorbikes, but retrieved the bodies of two soldiers, according to a media report quoting a fighter from Natogyi-PDF.
On Sunday morning, four regime troops were reportedly killed and another seven injured when a combined resistance group ambushed two military vehicles with mines in Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region, according to local media.
Another combined force of two urban PDFs claimed to have killed four junta soldiers and injured two more on Sunday morning when it attacked regime forces stationed at a school in Pyigyitagon Township, Mandalay Region with grenades.
The same force also used grenades to attack junta soldiers deployed at a ward administration office and electricity office in Pyigyitagon, said Dragon Warrior, a resistance group which took part in the attacks.
Currently, the Myanmar military is facing intense daily attacks nationwide from PDFs and ethnic armed organizations.
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