Thirty Junta Soldiers Reportedly Killed in Upper Myanmar
By The Irrawaddy 1 February 2022
Around 30 Myanmar military troops were reportedly killed on Monday when several People’s Defense Forces (PDF) continued their attacks against a military flotilla of eight vessels and junta-supporting Pyu Saw Htee militia in Kani Township, Sagaing Region.
The flotilla, including six barges and two motorboats carrying over 100 troops, is believed to be transporting food, weapons and ammunition along the Chindwin River to upper Myanmar.
Several PDFs in Kani have conducted a series of daring attacks over the past eight days against the flotilla, which departed from Monywa on January 22.
On Monday, a combined force of three resistance groups ambushed the flotilla again. The resistance groups also attacked around 200 Pyu Saw Htee, a militia trained and armed by the military regime, while they were travelling from Mingin Township to Kani to reinforce the flotilla.
Video shows the military vessels being attacked by the PDFs in different locations.
The combined force attacked the regime troops with heavy weapons from three locations, said Mahuurar Dragon, a resistance group which coordinated the ambush.
During the battle, a military barge caught fire after being hit. Mahuurar Dragon, which is based in Kani, said that many regime soldiers on the barge were killed.
Kani-PDF said that another combined force of resistance groups also attacked the flotilla on Monday.
During the clashes, two military barges were damaged and at least 30 regime troops were killed.
After the attack, Pyu Saw Htee militia torched houses in three nearby villages in Mingin Township, said Mahuurar Dragon.
On Sunday, Pyu Saw Htee from three villages in Mingin were ambushed by combined PDFs from Mingin and Kani townships while they were travelling to Kani along the Chindwin River to reinforce the military flotilla.
After a firefight with PDFs on Saturday, regime troops occupied Kin Village on the banks of the Chindwin and looted houses, said Kani-PDF.
Six villagers including a woman were arrested by junta forces. On Sunday, one of them, a 58-year-old male villager, was found dead. The other five detainees are still missing, according to the PDFs.
Armed resistance against the military regime in Kani began in April last year.
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