The junta-appointed chief minister for Sagaing Region has been attacked with mines by Myanmar’s civilian resistance.
On Monday evening, the People’s Army to Fight Dictatorship (PAFD), a civilian resistance group, claimed to have attacked a convoy carrying chief minister U Myat Kyaw in the west of Sagaing Township.
It is the second ambush on the minister in a week.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify any of the reports.
Sagaing Region is one of the country’s most unstable areas where many civilian resistance forces – often armed with homemade hunting rifles and makeshift mines – have been inflicting the highest losses on junta forces.
Ko Tayza from the resistance group told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that fighters attacked the convoy of about 10 civilian vehicles near a factory using 10 mines.
The chief minister was returning to Sagaing after attending a ceremony at a university in the west of the township.
Two vehicles were reportedly damaged but it is unknown if the chief minister is hurt.
Ko Tayza said the convoy sought safety in a factory when it was attacked. He said the group planned the attack for about five days as the highway had been heavily guarded.
“We will fight until the end. Having no proper weapons is the main problem for us but many people want to fight the junta,” said Ko Tayza.
On Nov. 19, a convoy carrying U Myat Kyaw was attacked with eight mines by the Kalewa People’s Defense Force (PDF) on the Kalewa-Ye-U highway in Kalewa Township, Sagaing Region.
Soldiers within the convoy opened fire at random after coming under attack but the attackers escaped, the group said.
Last week, resistance groups ambushed a convoy carrying Dr. Htay Augn, the junta-appointed hotels and tourism minister, and Ayeyarwady Region’s chief minister U Tin Maung Win on the Chaungtha-Pathein highway in Pathein Township, Ayeyarwady Region, according to the groups.
They claimed 10 junta troops escorting the convoy were killed in the firefight but the condition of the two ministers is unknown.
Other PDF attacks
Civilian resistance forces have continued attacks on junta forces in Sagaing and Mandalay regions and Kachin, Mon and Kayah states, claiming to have killed more than 36 junta troops in three days.
On Tuesday, the Northwest Plains Revolutionary Forces said it raided a police station in Monywa using grenades. The police sentries were wounded and the attackers escaped, the group claimed.
The Chaung-U PDF claimed to have killed 10 junta troops when a combined force of four groups mined a military convoy in Chaung-U Township on Tuesday morning.
In the attack, a military vehicle was destroyed, the group said.
Kale PDF claimed to have killed around five junta soldiers when it ambushed a 25-troop foot patrol in the Sagaing Region township on Tuesday morning.
Zoland PDF said a combined force raided a military battalion in Kale on Sunday evening.
It claimed military weapons stores were damaged and some soldiers were injured.
On Monday, PDFs in Kani Township said they attacked junta boats, including a speedboat, at nine locations on the Chindwin river. The military casualties are unknown.
Eight junta soldiers were reportedly killed and three injured when combined forces ambushed soldiers with landmines near Yin village in Kani Township, according to the groups.
Eight junta soldiers were reportedly killed and two injured when four resistance groups attacked junta troops stationed at a village school in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region, on Monday night.
On Monday, an intense firefight between regime forces and a combined group of Shwegu PDF and Kachin Independence Army fighters broke out in Shwegu Township, Kachin State, according to the National Unity Government’s defense ministry.
Three junta soldiers were killed and four injured when the Thaton PDF and Karen National Liberation Army attacked regime forces in Thaton Township, Mon State, on Monday.
Three firefights between the regime troops and the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) and Karenni Army, the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party, broke out in Demoso Township, Kayah State, on Monday, the groups said.
In the shootouts, two junta soldiers were killed and a Karenni civilian fighter was injured, said the KNDF.
Clashes continued in the township on Tuesday morning.
The military regime reportedly faces increasingly intense attacks from PDFs and many ethnic armed groups across the country.
The regime atrocities continue, including the arbitrary killing of civilians, using civilians as human shields, bombarding residential areas, burning houses and rape, especially in Magwe and Sagaing regions and Chin, Shan and Kayah states.
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