After suffering heavy losses in Sagaing Region, junta troops have retaliated against resistance forces by conducting raids on three resistance bases in five days in the northwestern anti-regime stronghold.
Junta troops attacked a village resistance base in Hpoke Kone, Kanbalu Township at around 5 a.m. on Thursday, killing four village resistance members and a civilian, according to local sources.
“Our camp was attacked out of the blue by plainclothes junta troops. Four resistance members and one civilian were killed during the raid,” a spokesperson for the village resistance group said.
Around 20 single-shot guns, tools and equipment for manufacturing homemade weapons were seized and 11 motorcycles were burned by junta troops, according to the group.
“We have to start from zero again as we lost almost all of our weapons during the raid,” a spokesperson for the group said.
The attack was reportedly in retaliation for an attack by a Hpoke Kone Village resistance group on a nearby village controlled by a Pyu Saw Htee pro-junta militia on Wednesday.
The group also arrested at least six Pyu Saw Htee members during the attack.
Hpoke Kone was raided on May 21 by other junta troops, who destroyed at least 450 out of 700 homes there.
Around 100 junta troops also raided another resistance base in Chaung-U Township on Wednesday in retaliation for heavy losses, according to local resistance groups.
“Recently, junta troops suffered heavy losses as we attacked their tollgate and convoys. So, they carried out a counterattack on our base,” a spokesperson for Area 71 People’s Defense Force said.
Six local resistance groups jointly attacked junta troops based at the tollgate on the Monywa-Chaung-U road on May 27. Two days later, they used land mines to ambush a junta convoy.
“We got a tip-off and all of our members from the camp were evacuated in advance. So, we didn’t suffer any casualties, but we lost our camp including 40-mm shells and ammunition worth around 30 million kyats [about US$14,300],” he said.
The group said a man who was arrested and used as a human shield was shot in the head and his body set on fire in their camp by junta troops.
The local group, which mainly relies on donations to produce homemade weapons, said it would take a long time to recover from the losses.
In another incident, Danger Force, a local People’s Defense Force (LPDF), lost one of their bases near War Yaung Village in Ayadaw Township after junta troops attacked it at around 9 a.m. on Sunday.
“A woman, 43, was shot in the head. We also lost some ammunition, a vehicle and three motorcycles worth around 30 million kyats,” he said.
A resistance member from Chaung-U said junta troops carried out raids systematically in their area deploying scout drones and advanced communication systems.
“Their strategies have improved recently. Sometimes, we cannot scout their movements and locations. They don’t even fire a single gunshot unless they encounter us face-to-face.
A local resistance base in Inn Ma Village of Chaung-U Township was also raided by junta troops on May 5, leaving four resistance members and a civilian dead, according to local sources.
