Myanmar’s junta is reinforcing its Kantbalu base in Sagaing Region in a push to retake neighboring Kawlin, where the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) is running its own administration after seizing the town in November, said residents and resistance forces.
The junta is using helicopters and trucks to transport troops, weapons and supplies to Kantbalu’s Armored Battalion 6006, which has reportedly swelled to over 600 soldiers.
More than 30 trucks filled with junta-affiliated Pyu Saw Htee militia fighters left a military training camp in Shwebo for the armored battalion on Friday.
“Informants said reinforcements arriving in Kantbalu comprise soldiers, Pyu Saw Htee militias, and prisoners. Amid a shortage of ground troops, the military persuaded prisoners to fight in exchange for their release. They were given intensive military training, then armed and sent to Kantbalu,” said a member of Kantbalu Township People’s Defense Force.
Kantbalu is just 64 kilometers south of Kawlin town.
“The regime has been reinforcing troops and stockpiling weapons and food for some three or four days. Kantbalu is not far from Kawlin, and they apparently plan to use Armored Battalion 6006 as a base to attack Kawlin,” said another resistance fighter.
Some 350 troops from the battalion entered neighboring Kyunhla Township on Monday, forcing over 10,000 residents to flee their homes, according to a member of the Kyunhla civilian administration.
“Junta troops have not yet begun raiding [Kyunhla] villages but the troop buildup has prompted a large number of residents from surrounding villages to flee. Residents in two village tracts in Kantbalu Township have also fled junta raids,” he said.
