Around six Myanmar regime troops were reportedly killed in an ambush at Monywa University of Economics by an alliance of People’s Defense Force (PDF) groups based in the country’s northwest on Tuesday.
The alliance of nine PDF groups with more than 100 members attacked regime soldiers and police officers stationed at the university at around 1:30 a.m.
The resistance fighters fired 40-mm grenades at the soldiers, who fired back with heavy weapons. However, no resistance fighters were injured. The fighting lasted for around 30 minutes.
“These soldiers and police have tightened security and checks on the people in Monywa Town. So, we attacked their location. There may be at least 60 at this university,” a spokesperson for the PDF alliance said.
Monywa University of Economics is located east of Monywa Town.
Families of soldiers and police have moved into the university’s employee housing, according to locals.
Many soldiers and police are now based not only at Monywa University of Economics, but also at Monywa University, as they are good places from which to conduct missions, a Monywa resident told The Irrawaddy.
The spokesperson for the alliance of northwestern PDFs said, “We know there are a lot of soldiers at Monywa University. The two universities are not too far apart. However, there are a lot of civilian houses to the west of Monywa University, so we are avoiding that area.”
Monywa is the capital of resistance stronghold Sagaing Region.
Residents of Monywa have been holding anti-junta protests every day. Earlier, the alliance of local resistance forces attacked regime troops at Monywa University of Economics in April and May this year, and heavy casualties were reported.
