Nearly 50 Myanmar Junta Troops Killed in Three Days of Resistance Attacks
By The Irrawaddy 24 March 2023
At least 46 Myanmar junta troops including regime-appointed administrators were killed in the last three days as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and an ethnic armed organization (EAO) continued to attack regime targets nationwide.
In one case, 29 PDF groups jointly attacked a notorious military detachment responsible for massacring and beheading nearly four dozen PDF forces and civilians in Sagaing Region.
Incidents were reported in Sagaing, Mandalay, Magwe, Ayeyarwady and Tanintharyi regions and Mon and Chin states.
The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and the EAO.
Some military casualty figures could not be independently verified.
Military column that massacred Sagaing residents suffers heavy losses
At least 19 Myanmar junta troops including senior army officers were killed in Myaung Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday when 29 local resistance groups jointly attacked a military detachment with the name “Ogre Column” that has massacred and beheaded nearly four dozen PDF forces and civilians in four Sagaing townships since late February, claimed Civilian Defense and Security Organization Myaung (CDSOM), which coordinated the attack.
On Tuesday evening, two hours of intense clashes broke out between three villages when the combined resistance groups attacked the military detachments by blocking them from two sides.
The military detachment raided villages and resistance bases in Sagaing’s Myaung Township and neighboring Yesagyo Township in Magwe Region starting March 12. It also lost 23 troops in ambushes by local resistance groups on March 15 and 16.
Pro-junta militia member killed by resistance drone strike in Sagaing
A PDF drone drops a bomb on regime targets in Wetlet township on Thursday. / Eagle Guerrilla Force
A pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia member was killed and two others injured in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region on Thursday when the PDF group Eagle Guerrilla Force used a drone to drop a bomb on the militia group based at a fire station, claimed the resistance group.
Regime forces face repeated drone strikes in Mandalay
A PDF drone drops bombs on regime targets in Taungtha and Natogyi Townships on March 23 and 21. / MDDS
At least four regime troops were killed in Natogyi and Taungtha townships in Mandalay Region in the last three days as combined PDF groups conducted drone strikes on regime targets in the area, said Myingyan District Drone Strike team, which joined the attacks.
On Thursday, the combined forces used a drone to drop a rifle grenade on a military checkpoint in Tamangyi Village in Taungtha. Military casualties were unknown.
The combined groups also used drones to drop eight bombs on the police station in the town of Natogyi on Tuesday, killing two regime forces and injuring many others.
On the same day, two regime soldiers were killed in Natogyi when a PDF drone dropped a bomb on a military detachment from Minywa Village.
Two junta-appointed 100 household administrators killed in Mandalay
Urban resistance group Aung Si Taw Operation Force claimed to have killed U Soe Naing and U Win Ko, junta-appointed 100 household administrators for Amara Htarni Ward in Aung Myay Tharzan Township, in the city of Mandalay on Wednesday.
The two were shot dead while eating at a teashop.
The victims collaborated with regime forces in arresting and killing a resistance group leader and members in the city.
Thirteen regime forces killed in resistance ambushes in Tanintharyi
At least 13 junta troops were killed in Palaw Township, Tanintharyi Region on Tuesday when five PDF groups including the Karen National Defense Force (KNDO), the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), clashed with 200 junta troops traveling between two villages, said King Cobra Force, which joined the attacks.
Two firefights broke out in the area after the resistance groups used land mines to ambush the military detachment.
Military detachment ambushed in southern Chin
At least six soldiers were killed and many others injured in Matupi Township, southern Chin State on Wednesday when Chinland Defense Force-Matupi attacked 80 foot soldiers and three military vehicles on the Matupi-Paletwa road, said the ethnic Chin resistance group.
The military detachment from Matupi was attempting to transport rations to the Htal Bwe military outpost on the road.
After facing losses in the clash, junta helicopters dropped 30 reinforcements and carried the bodies of killed and injured soldiers. However, the junta forces were forced to retreat by the resistance attack.
Junta-appointed administrator assassinated in Ayeyarwady
Local PDF group Kyonpyaw Special Task Force claimed to have assassinated U San Tun, the junta-appointed administrator of In Pyar Village, in Kyonpyaw Township, Ayeyarwady Region on Wednesday.
Before being appointed as an administrator, the victim provided information to the junta-run township administration group leading to the arrest of peaceful anti-regime protesters and residents at the Hlay Swae Village nearby in 2021.
Due to his reports, regime forces raided Hlay Swae Village, killing four residents in May 2021. The PDF group said they had to kill the administrator as he continued to oppress the residents.
Regime forces bombarded in Magwe
Yesagyo-PDF said it used drones to drop rifle grenades on regime forces near a village in Yesagyo Township, Magwe Region on Wednesday, in which many junta troops were injured.
After being bombed, regime troops responded with firearms and 40-mm explosives at random. However, there were no PDF casualties. The injured soldiers were taken to the technical university nearby.
At 10 p.m. that night, the PDF group also used improvised mortar shells to attack regime forces at the pro-regime militia village of Zeetaw. Regime forces from the village and Military Infantry Battalion 257 responded with 60-mm explosives.
Military battalions bombarded in Mon
Kyaikhto Revolution Force (KRF) said it coordinated with another PDF group and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen Nation Union (KNU), in bombarding military Light Infantry Battalion 207 and Artillery Battalion 310 based in Kyaikhto Township, Mon Sate, by using mortar shells on Wednesday evening.
However, details of damage and casualties were unknown.
