Myanmar’s junta lost over a dozen troops in the last four days as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) stepped up attacks on regime targets across the country.
Incidents were reported in Rakhine and Kachin states, Magwe, Sagaing and Tanintharyi regions, and in the junta’s administrative capital Naypyitaw.
The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks by PDFs and EAOs.
Some military casualties could not be independently verified.
Clashes continue in Rakhine as AA escalates attacks on regime targets
Clashes intensified in Ponnagyun Township, Rakhine State on Thursday as the ethnic Arakan Army (AA) escalated its operation to seize the headquarters of the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 550 in Ponnagyun town, the ethnic army said.
The AA started the offensive against the military HQ on Feb. 23. In Thursday’s fighting, the junta conducted heavy shelling and airstrikes to defend the military stronghold. The AA said it is close to seizing the whole battalion HQ.
On Wednesday, AA troops also clashed with a military unit of 80 junta troops on the Kyein Chaung-Yan Aung Pyin Road in the north of Maungdaw Township. AA troops seized military weapons and ammunition along with the bodies of seven killed soldiers from the clash site.
AA troops also chased and attacked the remaining junta solders as they fled, the ethnic army said.
Heavy clashes continue in Myanmar’s jade hub in Kachin State
The ethnic Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Kachin Region PDF continued their joint attempt to seize a strategic hilltop base from the junta in Tar Ma Khan Village near the jade town of Hpakant in Kachin State on Thursday, according to reports from local Kachin media.
In Thursday’s fighting, the junta conducted airstrikes and bombardments using two fighter jets and a Y-12 airplane to defend the base.
The KIA and allied resistance groups have been attacking the junta base since Tuesday.
Police outpost torched near junta’s administrative capital Naypyitaw
The Oppressed People’s Revolutionary Force (OPRF) said it burned down an abandoned junta police outpost in Nyaung Pat Village in Tatkon Township, Naypyitaw on Thursday.
Regime police forces abandoned the outpost in mid-2023. After the arson attack by the resistance group, a large number of regime solders arrived in six vehicles and stationed themselves in the school and monastery of Nyaung Pat Village.
Regime forces bombed by resistance drones in Magwe
Joint resistance groups conduct a drone strike on pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia members in Nga Phaung Kan Village in Myaing Township, Magwe Region on Tuesday. / Young Force UG
The anti-regime resistance group Young Force UG said it and four resistance groups used makeshift remote-controlled planes to bomb pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia forces who arrived at Nga Phaung Kan Village in Myaing Township, Magwe Region on Tuesday.
After the drone strikes, a shootout broke out between the combined resistance forces and the militia forces. Details of pro-regime militia casualties were unknown.
On the same day, the resistance group conducted drone strikes on regime forces stationed near the University of Computer Studies in Myaing Township. On Wednesday, the resistance groups also used makeshift drones to drop five bombs on regime soldiers stationed in Thayet Kwa Village, said Young Force UG.
Regime forces bombed in Sagaing’s Myinmu town
The Civilian Defense and Security Organization of Myaung (CDSOM) said it conducted drone strikes on 200 regime forces who arrived in 12 military trucks and stationed themselves at No. 1 Basic Education High School in Myinmu Town, Sagaing Region on Thursday afternoon.
On that evening, more regime forces arrived at the school in three vehicles. After being hit by the drone strikes, the regime forces indiscriminately shelled residential wards of the town with 60-mm mortar rounds, killing three residents and injuring five others, said CDSOM.
However, regime casualties in the drone strikes were unknown.
Regime forces killed by resistance drone strikes in Sagaing
Combined PDF groups conduct drone attacks on junta bases in the pro-military village of Taw Pu in Monywa Township on Monday. / MSPDF
Myaung Special PDF said it and 11 other resistance groups used makeshift drones to drop six bombs on regime bases in the pro-regime village of Taw Pu in Monywa Township, Sagaing Region on Wednesday.
They dropped bombs on the junta base while it was holding a birthday party for an army captain. Three junta forces were killed and two others injured in the drone strikes, the resistance group said.
Military battalion headquarters bombed in Tanintharyi
At least six regime forces were killed and seven injured in Thayet Chaung Township, Tanintharyi Region on Wednesday as Dawei District PDF Battalions 1 and 2 used six 60-mm mortar rounds to bomb the headquarters of the junta’s Light Infantry Battalions 404 and 403, said the PDF groups.
Furthermore, the drone unit T5 Wings of the Dawei District PDF Battalion 2 conducted drone strikes on the junta’s Win Wa hilltop base in the township on the same day. Regime forces are believed to have been injured in the drone strikes, the PDF group said.
