At least 66 Myanmar junta forces as well as some resistance forces were killed in the last three days as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and an ethnic armed organization (EAO) stepped up attacks on regime targets across the country.
PDF groups raided a pro-regime militia village and a gold mining company owned by an army officer in Mandalay and Sagaing regions, while an EAO occupied a junta outpost in Kayah State.
Incidents were reported in Sagaing, Mandalay and Magwe regions and Kayah State.
The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks from the PDFs and the EAO.
Some military casualties could not be independently verified.
Pro-regime village raided by PDF groups in Sagaing
At least 30 regime forces and pro-regime militia members were killed in Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region on Thursday when four PDF groups raided the pro-regime village of Chat Thin, where junta forces and Pyu Saw Htee militia members have been stationed for a year, according to the PDF groups.
After three hours, the resistance groups managed to occupy the village and torch a military camp, a resistance member told The Irrawaddy.
PDF groups also used land mines to ambush two vehicles of regime reinforcements sent to the PDF-targeted village from Kyunhla Township. Many regime forces are believed to have been killed or injured when the two vehicles were damaged.
After the raid, a military Mi-35 helicopter gunship attacked villages near Chat Thin on Thursday afternoon, the PDF group said.
Military detachment torching villages ambushed in Sagaing
Residents welcome PDF fighters who attacked a military detachment in Yinmabin Township on Wednesday. / KLG PDF
Kyauk Lone Gyi PDF said it and 16 other PDF groups killed five junta soldiers and injured many others when they ambushed a military detachment torching houses in Kone Ywar Village in Yinmabin Township, Sagaing Region on Wednesday morning.
The regime forces were attacked by the PDF groups after they burned down Kone Ywar.
A military unit based in the town of Yinmabin also used 120-mm artillery rounds to help its ground troops attack resistance forces. A PDF fighter suffered minor injuries in the junta shelling.
Military checkpoint raided in Sagaing
Local PDF group Depayin Local Mobile Team said it and other resistance groups conducted a surprise raid on a military checkpoint in the town of Budalin in Sagaing Region on Thursday.
In the raid, three junta soldiers were killed and two weapons and some ammunition were seized by the PDF groups.
10 junta troops, two resistance fighters killed in clash in Sagaing
At least 10 regime forces were killed and seven injured in Khin U Township, Sagaing Region on Monday when a scout team of two PDF groups attacked 30 regime forces that were raiding Magyi Oak Village, said Khin-U Regional Defense Alliance Force, which joined the attacks.
In the clash, two PDF fighters aged 32 and 25 were killed.
Regime forces ambushed with land mines in Sagaing
Junta forces carry an injured soldier in Myinmu Township on Tuesday. / PAFD
PDF group People’s Army to Fight Dictatorship claimed to have killed three junta soldiers and injured four others as they used land mines to ambush a military detachment near the town of Myinmu in Sagaing Region on Thursday.
The military detachment was returning to the town after killing over a dozen civilian detainees during their raids on villages in Myinmu and neighboring Sagaing Township.
A PDF video shows regime forces carrying an injured soldier.
Five regime forces killed in PDF ambush in Sagaing
Khin U Special Force Organization claimed to have killed five regime forces in Khin U Township, Sagaing Region on Wednesday when it used a cluster of land mines to ambush 10 regime troops, an advance unit of a military detachment heading to Yar Taw Village.
Five remaining regime forces responded with firearms but the PDF forces retreated from the ambush site without any casualties.
Police outpost bombed by PDF drones in Sagaing
A PDF drone drops bombs on a junta police base in Kyar Tat Village in Salingyi Township on Wednesday / SSTF
Four regime soldiers including policemen were injured in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region on Wednesday when Salingyi Special Task Forces used drones to drop bombs on a military camp in Kyar Tat Village, claimed the PDF group.
Junta outpost seized by resistance groups in Kayah
At least 10 regime forces were killed in Bawlakhe Township, Kayah State on Monday when the Karenni Army (KA) and the Karenni Nationalities Defense Forces (KNDF) jointly occupied a military outpost on a mountain, said the Karenni Military Information Center, the media unit of the KA.
The resistance groups seized heavy weapons and ammunition from the base.
Some resistance fighters were killed and 15 injured when five junta fighter jets attacked while the resistance groups were planning to raid another military outpost nearby.
PDF groups conduct series of attacks on regime forces in Magwe
A military vehicle is ambushed with land mines in Myaing Township on Thursday.
Many regime forces including pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia members are thought to have been killed or injured as Myaing-PDF group and two other resistance groups conducted four attacks on regime forces in Myaing Township, Magwe Region on Thursday, the resistance group said.
On Thursday morning, the PDF groups conducted drone strikes and mine ambushes against junta forces and their militia allies in the pro-regime village of Twinma. At least three junta forces suffered serious injuries.
The PDF groups also used land mines to ambush five military vehicles near a village in the township.
The five military vehicles continued to face land mine ambushes between the two pro-regime villages of Thayat Kan and Twinma.
The combined PDF groups used land mines and rocket-launched explosives to attack the same military convoy on the way to Kan Ma police outpost in the township.
Junta gold mine raided by PDF groups in Mandalay
Pyin Oo Liwn District PDF said two of its member resistance groups raided a gold mine of Kyaw Zaw Thu company owned by army Major Myo Khine in Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region on Wednesday.
The management of the gold mine is supervised by two army officers, Major Aung San Oo and Captain Min Naing. The two managers escaped during the PDF raid.
The mining company pays an army unit 3 million kyats (about US$1,040 according to the black market exchange rate) a month to guard the mine.
The company has also been allowing the military to use its vehicles to transport military detachments during their raids on nearby areas. During the raid, the PDF groups urged the mine workers not to work for businesses owned by regime forces and encouraged them to work for the people’s revolution as much as they can, said Pyin Oo Lwin District PDF.
