The Myanmar junta suffered more defeats over the past two days, losing a whole military battalion headquarters and one more fighter jet, as well as hundreds of troops as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and several ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) stepped up attacks on regime targets across the country.
Incidents were reported in Shan, Chin and Rakhine states and Sagaing Region.
The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and EAOs.
Some military casualties could not be independently verified.
KIA shoots down junta fighter jet in northern Shan
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) shot down a Myanmar military junta fighter jet at noon on Tuesday as it was conducting air strikes in Nampaka Village, Kutkai Township, northern Shan State, KIA information officer Colonel Naw Bu confirmed to The Irrawaddy.
The KIA and its allies have been attempting to seize a key base in Kutkai since the last week of December. On Jan. 3, the KIA shot down a military transport helicopter flying to a frontline base in Kachin’s Waingmaw Township, killing six military personnel.
One more military battalion HQ raises white flag in Rakhine
Defeated troops from the regime’s Light Infantry Battalion 539 and their family members are led away by Arakan Army troops in Kyauktaw Township on Tuesday. / Western News
The entire military Light Infantry Battalion 539, including family members, surrendered to ethnic Rakhine armed group the Arakan Army on Tuesday after being besieged in Kyauktaw Township, Rakhine State, according to locals.
Last Thursday, the AA launched attacks in the area targeting the light infantry battalion and Artillery Battalion 377. The artillery battalion was seized by the AA on Sunday.
The AA gave the battalions a chance to surrender on an earlier occasion, but the junta base fought back, according to local sources close to the AA. On Tuesday, the junta base finally raised the white flag as AA troops moved in to occupy it, said sources familiar with the incident.
On Monday, over 100 junta troops including a tactical commander surrendered to the AA after being defeated.
The AA is a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, which has been conducting Operation 1027, a major anti-regime offensive, across northern Shan, inflicting heavy defeats on the military regime.
The AA widened the operation to Rakhine State on Nov. 13 last year. Since then it has seized over 150 junta bases and occupied Paletwa Town in neighboring Chin State.
Junta continues assault despite ceasefire agreement in northern Shan
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, said some of the regime forces remaining in the Kokang region of northern Shan State attacked MNDAA troops with grenades on Tuesday evening, sparking a shootout.
All regime forces retreated from the area after being counterattacked by MNDAA troops. Later, the fleeing junta troops shelled the MNDAA-controlled area with three 60-mm mortar rounds.
Ignoring a China-brokered ceasefire, the junta continued artillery and air strikes against civilian areas and resistance-controlled areas in Kutkai, Mongmit and Nawnghkio townships northern Shan on Tuesday, the ethnic alliance said.
All 30 junta troops killed defending base in Chin
Ethnic Chin resistance groups seized a junta base in Taingen Village, Tedim Township in Chin State on Tuesday after five days of attacks in which all 30 junta soldiers and policemen defending the position were killed, according to local media reports.
The regime forces refused to surrender, though the Chin group frequently urged them to do so by telephone, a resistance official told the media.
During the raids, the junta used aircraft and artillery units in a futile attempt to defend the base. Eight resistance members were also killed in the fighting.
Regime targets bombed by resistance drones in Sagaing
At least three regime forces including pro-regime militia were killed and some others injured in Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region on Monday and Tuesday when six PDF groups conducted drones strikes on regime targets, said Eagle Guerrilla Force, which coordinated the aerial attacks.
First, the PDF groups dropped 10 drone bombs on pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia targets in the pro-military village of Pyin Htaung on Monday, killing a militia member and injuring three others.
On Tuesday, the PDF groups continued to drop bombs on regime forces at a police station, the junta-run Khin-U Township General Administration Department Office and regime forces who had taken up position at the Khin-U Public Hospital, killing two more regime forces and injuring five others, said the PDF group.
