Myanmar junta motorboats were damaged in Katha Township, Sagaing Region, on Thursday when resistance forces ambushed six boats escorted by two jet fighters and foot soldiers.
The flotilla had reportedly been carrying food, firearms and ammunition from Mandalay to Kachin State along the Irrawaddy River since August 8.
On Thursday morning resistance groups led by the All Burma Student’s Democratic Front ambushed the ships with improvised rockets, a Katha People’s Defense Force (PDF) representative, who was involved in the attack, told The Irrawaddy on Friday.
Nine out of the 14 rockets fired hit the boats, the PDF said.
The junta casualties are unknown. The Katha PDF member said injured personnel were taken to Shwegu in Kachin State.
He added that the attackers managed to complete the ambush despite about 10 flights conducted by two junta fighter jets.
On Friday, troops in Katha Township protecting the flotilla burned houses in Kyauk Htone Gyi village and raided another nearby village, said Katha PDF.
“The regime is torturing and killing civilians. It does not see civilians as human beings as it only wants power,” said the Katha PDF member.
On August 11, resistance groups attacked the boats using 107mm mortars and used drones to attack foot soldiers protecting the flotilla beside the Irrawaddy.
Airstrikes were used against resistance forces, injuring a villager while other residents fled, according to Katha PDF.
After facing attacks, the flotilla stopped in Katha for about five days last week.
The junta faces regular attacks from PDFs and ethnic armed organizations across the country.
The regime continues to conduct indiscriminate aerial bombings, arbitrary killings of civilians and burning the civilian houses amid calls from the United Nations for an end to attacks on civilians.
