At least 40 Myanmar junta troops including a junta-appointed township administrator were killed in the last two days as People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) continued to attack regime forces across the country.
Attacks were reported in Karen and Rakhine states and Mandalay, Magwe and Sagaing regions.
At least four civilians were killed and over a dozen injured as regime forces responded with indiscriminate attacks.
The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks by PDFs and EAOs as well as the latest regime atrocities:
16 junta soldiers including major seized in Karen
Sixteen junta forces including a major and three army captains were captured during a firefight with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied resistance forces in Kyainseikgyi Township, Karen State on Sunday, resistance forces told The Irrawaddy.
Two intense clashes broke out in the township on Saturday and Sunday when the KNLA and PDF groups attacked a detachment of the Myanmar military’s Light Infantry Battalion 358 traveling from Kyainseikgyi to Myawaddy Township.
In the clashes, six junta troops were killed and another 20 fled. Around 20 firearms and a quantity of ammunition were seized from the junta soldiers.
Junta administrator assassinated in Mandalay
The PDF group Wundwin Township Revolution Force claimed to have killed junta-appointed township administrator U Kyaw Moe Oo and a member of the township administration staff in Wundwin Township, Mandalay Region on Monday.
The administrator was a former police colonel. The victims were attacked while eating at a restaurant.
Four regime forces killed in PDF drone strike in Mandalay
Regime forces are bombed by a PDF drone in Natogyi Township on Sunday. / Natogyi-PDF
Four junta troops were killed and five injured in Natogyi Township, Mandalay Region on Sunday afternoon when Natogyi-PDF used drones to drop improvised bombs on a military checkpoint at a school in Pyinsi Village, the PDF group claimed.
PDF video shows regime forces being bombed by a drone.
10 regime forces killed in PDF ambushes in Sagaing
The resistance group Khin-U Special Force Organization (KSO) claimed to have killed 10 regime soldiers and Pyu Saw Htee pro-regime militia members in an ambush in Khin U Township, Sagaing Region on Monday.
Three PDF groups used land mines and drones to attack a military detachment of 70 soldiers patrolling a road in the township early on Monday. Many other junta troops were injured.
A 50-year-old woman resident of the township was injured when junta troops responded with indiscriminate fire, the KSO said.
Police outpost raided in Sagaing
Two regime forces and a resistance fighter were killed and six regime soldiers were injured during a raid by PDF groups attempting to occupy a junta police outpost in Shwe Pan Kone Village in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region early Monday, said 96 Soldiers-PDF group, which coordinated the attack.
After an hour of intense fighting, the resistance groups were forced to call off the raid when the junta forces called in air strikes.
Three soldiers killed, many injured in PDF ambushes in Sagaing
At least three regime forces were killed and many others injured at 2 p.m. on Monday when several Sagaing PDF groups used a cluster of land mines to ambush four military vehicles near the entrance gate of Chaung-U Town in Sagaing Region, the groups said.
The military vehicles were passing through Chaung-U en route from Monywa to Sagaing.
In the ambush, three regime forces were killed and another injured. Regime forces stole a civilian vehicle after killing the driver and used it to transport the bodies of dead soldiers, said Civilian’s Defense and Security Organization of Myaung (CDSOM), which was involved in the ambushes.
Two military vehicles were abandoned on the Chaung-U-Sagaing highway after being damaged in the attack.
Five more soldiers were believed to have been injured when the PDF groups used additional land mines to attack military vehicles, which turned back and randomly opened fire on the ambush area, claimed Chaung-U PDF, which was involved in the attacks.
At 2:30 p.m. on that afternoon, the PDF groups again used a cluster of land mines to ambush a military convoy of 10 vehicles at the entrance of Chaung-U town. The convoy was carrying troops of the Sagaing-based Myanmar military Division 33 to Monywa.
At 3 p.m. on that afternoon the convoy was again ambushed, this time by PDF groups using 10 land mines planted outside the town. In the attack, an army officer is believed to have been seriously injured.
10 junta forces killed in PDF mortar attack in Magwe
Ten regime forces and pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia members were reportedly killed in Myaing Township, Magwe Region on Sunday night when 17 PDF groups used a total of 200 improvised mortar rounds to bombard a military base at Thayatkan Village, said PDF Battalion 708 of West Regional Brigade 7, which coordinated the attack.
It said they used 60-mm, 80-mm, 100-mm and 120-mm improvised mortar shells. Regime forces responded with 60-mm explosives and firearms, but all resistance fighters escaped from the area without any casualties.
Four regime forces killed in PDF ambush in Magwe
Four regime soldiers were killed in Natmauk Township, Magwe Region on Sunday night when PDF fighters of Peikthano-PDF and a Natmauk PDF group ambushed eight junta soldiers on motorbikes patrolling near Phettaw Village, according to the resistance groups.
In the ambush, two weapons were seized from the regime forces, said Peikthano-PDF.
Teacher among three civilians killed by junta artillery in Rakhine
A 50-year-old school teacher was among three civilians killed by junta artillery strikes on civilian targets in Minbya Township, Rakhine State on Monday, local sources told The Irrawaddy.
After a military detachment faced mine ambushes near Kyatsin Bridge, Myanmar military battalions 380, 379 and 541 based in Minbya shelled four villages near the ambush area with artillery rounds.
Around 13 civilians were injured in the shelling.
