Around 400 Myanmar junta soldiers and Pyu Saw Htee militia allies have raided villages along the Irrawaddy River west of Madaya Township in Mandalay Region, forcing back resistance groups.
Madaya is adjacent to Mandalay city and Madaya town is about an hour’s drive from the junta’s Central Command in Mandalay.
Mandalay People’s Defense Force (PDF) and other resistance groups in Madaya Township launched operations on June 25, seizing around 35 junta bases and outposts.
Around 100 junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee allies launched a counteroffensive in late September at Thone-sel-pay village on the Irrawaddy River about 16km northwest of Mandalay city.
Junta troops occupied the village and deployed artillery, according to a member of Madaya Township People’s Defense Team.”
“They brought in more troops, artillery and air support so we retreated,” he said, while refusing to say how many former junta bases had been abandoned.
Mandalay PDF spokesman Ko Osmond said anti-regime groups hold 35 former junta positions, including an airbase and a base near Sedawgyi Dam, east of Madaya town.
Junta troops have been deployed in around eight villages in western Madaya Township, according to anti-regime groups.
Generation Z Power, a resistance group in Mandalay, said: “I have fought many battles but had never experienced such a heavy artillery bombardment as at Thone-sel-pay. But they could not advance until they used airstrikes when we safely retreated.”
At least 70 junta soldiers were killed in the airstrikes, the group claimed. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.
The group said the regime targeted Thone-sel-pay because it thought anti-regime fighters were using the village to attack Mandalay Palace, which houses the Central Command, with homemade rockets.
Junta shelling during the battle for Thone-sel-pay reportedly killed a mother and her eight-year-old daughter and infant son, an elderly woman and her grandson, and a five-year-old boy in neighboring Sulegon village. Three others, including two children aged six and eight, were wounded.
Junta troops have been bombarding villages in western Madaya Township this month and are allegedly preparing to raid around Nyaunggon village using the Irrawaddy, according to sources.
The regime is allegedly gathering troops, weapons and food to attack resistance territory east of Madaya, as anti-regime groups have warned residents to dig bomb shelters and stay away from junta troops.
