The People’s Defense Force (PDF) and armed ethnic allies have taken Kawlin, a district-level town in Sagaing Region, after four days of fighting, seizing arms and ammunition from junta troops, according to the civilian National Unity Government (NUG).
A combined force of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Arakan Army (AA), and Kawlin People’s Defense Force launched its attack on junta bases in Kawlin early on Friday morning.
The town’s police station and a military base at Kawlin High School were seized on Sunday despite frequent airstrikes and shelling by junta forces.
Resistance fighters also rescued locals taken prisoner by the junta troops, the Kawlin Revolution Team reported.
They then attacked the junta base at the Kawlin administration office, where troops surrendered on Monday morning.
“Our comrades laid siege to the administration office all night before troops stationed there waved a white flag at 8 am on Monday,” the Kawlin Revolution Team said.
This was the first time resistance forces had seized a district-level town and freed it from junta rule, the NUG’s Ministry of Defense declared.
Resistance fighters also seized 54 weapons and ammunition in the attack, it said.
Kawlin district comprises three townships: Kawlin, Wuntho and Pinlebu.
Junta forces cut phone and internet reception in Kawlin on Friday while targeting civilians with weapons and airstrikes, resulting in casualties and destruction of houses, the Kawlin Revolution Team reported.
The scale of civilian casualties and destruction is still unknown.
Some 75 percent of residents have fled the town, a volunteer said.
“We can treat the injured people outside of the town. But we need medicine for injured residents,” a medical volunteer told The Irrawaddy.
The Kawlin assault was part of simultaneous resistance attacks launched in eight townships across Sagaing and Magwe Region on Friday. The NUG announced that it was part of “Operation 1027”, the ongoing offensive launched in northern Shan State on Oct. 27 by the ethnic Brotherhood Alliance, comprising the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNADD) and Arakan Army.
TNLA seized four junta’s military and police positions in northern Shan’s Namkham Township on Sunday. On Monday, combined forces of the TNLA and Mandalay PDF attacked a junta position in Nawnghkio, where fierce fighting is still ongoing.
Elsewhere in Sagaing, combined PDF forces seized a junta outpost manned by 35 soldiers, police and militia in Chaung-U Township. The bodies of 14 junta personnel and weapons were found at the outpost on Saturday.
Moreover, combined forces of KIA and PDFs attacked a junta warship on the Ayeyarwady River in Sagaing’s Katha. They claimed that at least five junta soldiers were killed in the attack, which also set fire to the ship. A commander was reportedly on board at the time.
Following the launch of Operation 1027, the regime has reinforced its troops and checkpoints in Rakhine, where junta troops and the Arakan Army have observed a shaky ceasefire for months.
