A combined group of People’s Defense Forces (PDF) in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw has warned junta-appointed local administrators to resign from their posts, according to a statement released by the group.
Naypyitaw has eight townships, 54 wards and 795 villages. Each one has an administrator.
Tuesday’s statement was issued by three PDFs active in Naypyitaw and demanded the resignations of all local officials, whom the PDFs regard as vital to the military regime’s administration of the country. The PDFs demand that the administrators resign is part of their plan to ensure that the junta cannot govern the country.
The warning to local administrators in Naypyitaw comes amid the ongoing assassinations of local officials nationwide, with many accused of being junta informants.
Last week, an administrator in Mandalay’s Mahlaing Township was shot dead by a local PDF.
As of January 20, 367 junta administration officials have been killed nationwide since last year’s coup, while another 336 have been wounded, according to regime statistics.
Residents in Naypyitaw’s Pyinmana Township said that local authorities held a meeting on Wednesday morning with ward administrators, telling them to stay alert and to be careful.
Despite being a regime stronghold, Naypyitaw has seen an increasing number of attacks on junta targets by resistance fighters.
Most recently, guerrilla groups attacked five targets in Pyinmana Township, including the military-owned Myawaddy Bank and the local police station, on February 11 and 12 just as coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing was holding a grand military review in the capital.
The PDFs claimed to have killed six junta forces and injured two more, but The Irrawaddy has been unable to confirm their claims independently.
Last year, there were a number of bomb attacks on branches of the Myawaddy Bank and ward administration offices in Naypyitaw causing some causalities.
Despite the recent attacks, Naypyitaw residents said on Wednesday that security was not as tight in the capital as it has been previously.
One local said: “Before February 12, security forces were stationed at major junctions like Myoma Market, the busiest place in Naypyitaw, but now we don’t see many of them.”
You may also like these stories:
Myanmar Junta Rounds Up NLD Members After Pipeline Attack
Regime Forces Torch Houses in Upper Myanmar in Latest Arson Attack
Russian Military Pilots Visit Myanmar as Junta Steps Up Air Strikes