Seized Sagaing Civilians Used by Myanmar Junta While Bomb Defused

By The Irrawaddy 14 July 2022

Around 40 civilians were used as human shields by Myanmar’s regime forces while troops defused a remote-controlled bomb laid by the People’s Defense Force (PDF) in Kantbalu Township, Sagaing Region, on Tuesday.

Shwebo District resistance groups attempted to attack a junta checkpoint near Ngayant Dine village in Kantbalu Township on Tuesday morning, said Taze Revolution Force (TRF), which coordinated the ambush.

After finding the bomb, regime troops and allied Pyu Saw Htee militia members seized 40 civilians and used them as human shields to deter any detonation.

The civilian detainees were made to kneel near the bomb while regime troops defused it, TRF said.

The group said it abandoned the bomb to avoid harming the civilians.

Hours later resistance groups ambushed the checkpoint again using mines that were not discovered by the regime forces.

Four soldiers were killed and 12 injured, according to the TRF.

After sustaining heavy casualties in ambushes and mine attacks by the resistance forces, the regime’s forces frequently use civilian detainees and vehicles as shields in their operations in Magwe, Sagaing regions and Chin, Shan and Kayah states.