At least two junta positions guarding off-take stations for the Chinese oil and gas pipelines have been seized in Mandalay Region since People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) launched simultaneous attacks on regime targets in Myingyan District on Saturday.
The PDF groups under the command of the civilian National Unity Government continued their coordinated attacks on regime targets including the junta positions guarding the off-take station in Taungtha town on Monday morning.
The oil and gas pipelines, which run from the Rakhine coast to southern China, were constructed in 2011 and began operation in July 2013.
The 973-km pipelines pass through Magwe and Mandalay regions and Shan State to China’s Yunnan Province.
An official from Myingyan District PDF group told The Irrawaddy on Monday that several PDF battalions jointly launched the attacks on three regime targets in Taungtha Township.
Resistance forces managed to defeat junta forces manning the off-take station guard position near the south entrance of Taungtha town.
The PDF groups also claimed to have burned down a regime-run textile mill at the north entrance of Taungtha town after defeating regime forces stationed there. At the same time, resistance forces also seized and burned down regime positions in the pro-junta village of Hpa Ya Hla located in the northwest of Taungtha Township. The village is home to pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia groups.
Late on Sunday night, a junta aircraft bombed a Buddhist monastery near Pyat That Kyi Village in the east of Taungtha Township, destroying all three religious buildings at the monastery, according to residents.
“We couldn’t sleep due to the airstrike last night. The junta aircraft was circling over the area for [several] minutes. We also heard gunfire from Taungtha town this early morning,” a resident of a village near the clash site told The Irrawaddy.
Several PDF battalions from Naypyitaw, Meiktila, Nyaung-U and Myingyan District coordinated the attacks in Taungtha on Monday and a resistance fighter suffered minor injuries.
Details of regime casualties were unknown. After the resistance attacks, junta jet fighters circled over Taungtha town on Monday evening.
Meanwhile, the military junta has fortified nearby Myingyan, deploying regime forces across the town, according to residents.
On Saturday, several PDF groups also jointly conducted a simultaneous attack on several regime targets in Natogyi town, 32 km east of Myingyan town. With the exception of the junta police station, the PDF groups managed to briefly seize and destroy the town’s major junta positions. The four positions destroyed included a regime base guarding the off-take station of the Chinese oil and gas pipelines.
The off-take station is located 3 km east of Natogyi town. During the attacks, more than 30 regime forces were reportedly killed and some were captured by the PDF groups along with weapons and ammunition.
A PDF fighter also lost his life in the operation in Natogyi.
All resistance groups retreated from the town when helicopter gunships conducted airstrikes.
“We can’t keep control of seized junta bases for long, due to the airstrikes. So, we are conducting mobile operations as a new strategy here to disperse the regime forces,” said an official of Myingyan District PDF group.
After the resistance attacks on Saturday, the junta retook Natogyi town by sending in around 200 reinforcements, according to residents.
Myingyan District PDF groups launched an anti-regime offensive, dubbed Myingyan District Special Operations, in the district on Saturday and have urged people not to use Myingyan-Natogyi Road and Myingyan-Taungtha Road.
