At least 10 Myanmar junta troops were reported killed on Wednesday in Yesagyo Township, Magwe Region when a resistance group attacked regime soldiers in the center of Yesagyo Town, said Myingyan Black Tiger (MBT), the People’s Defense Force (PDF) that conducted the raid.
Prior to the attack, junta forces had attempted to arrest two resistance members, detaining one after he was shot in his behind.
The military regime troops placed the injured fighter on the road in an attempt to ambush his comrades when they tried to rescue him, Bo Mike Khe, the MBT leader told The Irrawaddy on Friday.
But the 30-odd junta soldiers abandoned their ambush plan after learning that a large group of PDF fighters were heading to Yesagyo Town to rescue their colleague, the PDF said.
After deploying around 100 troops, the regime moved the injured PDF fighter to the township hospital. He was moved again to the office of the General Administration Department when the junta force learned that the PDF fighters were planning to raid the hospital.
Bo Mike Khe said that two columns of MBT fighters attacked the office from two sides, while three other columns blockaded the town in three different locations.
Citing a military informant, MBT said 10 regime troops were killed and others injured.
However, The Irrawaddy was unable to confirm the military casualties independently.
On Thursday afternoon, regime soldiers killed the injured and detained MBT fighter with a shot to the head and dumped his body in the nearby Chindwin River. His corpse was recovered by MBT on Thursday evening.
The PDF said that the fighter had been tortured before he was killed as wounds consistent with torture were found on his body.
MBT leader Bo Mike Khe said that military informants had told the PDF that the regime soldiers has placed a GPS device on the dead PDF fighter in an attempt to track where he was taken. So the fighter’s body was cremated on Friday morning.
Also on Friday morning, several Myanmar military columns were gathering close to MBT’s headquarters, added Bo Mike Khe.
“We are sad for the death of our comrade. But we are proud of him. We must all die one day. He died while fighting those guys [regime forces] troubling the whole country. He sacrificed his life for the country,” said Bo Mike Khe.
He added: “We aren’t depressed seeing the death of our comrade. His death makes us even stronger. Now military detachments are heading to our base. We are waiting to fight them.”
On Thursday another resistance group, Yesagyo PDF, used mines to ambush military vehicles in Yesagyo Township, killing at least three soldiers and injuring several others, according to Yesagyo PDF.
