An army major and a captain were among nearly 30 regime forces killed in the last four days as People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) escalated their attacks on regime targets across the country.
Incidents were reported in Mon, Karen, Rakhine and Kayah states as well as in Bago, Tanintharyi and Sagaing regions.
The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks by PDFs and EAOs as well as the regime’s latest atrocities against civilians.
Some military casualties could not be independently verified.
Three soldiers including deputy battalion commander killed in PDF raid in Mon
Army Major Chit Win Thu, who was a deputy commander of Military Training Battalion 9, was among three soldiers killed during a raid by Thaton-PDF on a military vehicle in Thaton Township, Mon State on Thursday.
Early on Thursday morning, the PDF group attacked a vehicle being used by regime forces to carry civilian detainees in the township, according to local media reports citing a statement by the PDF group.
In the raid, three soldiers were killed and another managed to flee after being injured. The PDF group also freed the civilian detainees, it told the media.
Video footage and photos taken by the PDF show two soldiers in civilian clothes lying dead near a vehicle, and three weapons, explosives and mobile phones that were seized by the PDF group.
The army major was notorious for leading a junta arson attack on a village in the township, arresting anti-regime activists and trading drugs and vehicles illegally.
Heavy clash erupts in Karen
The Myanmar junta used an Mi-35 helicopter gunship and a surveillance plane during intense clashes with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied PDF groups in Myawaddy Township, Karen State on Thursday, said KNLA’s Cobra Column.
Many regime soldiers are believed to have been killed or injured when resistance drone teams conducted strikes on regime forces under the command of Military Division 44, which is attempting to occupy areas in the township.
However, the number of military casualties could not be verified due to the intensity of the clash, Cobra Column said. No resistance casualties were reported, it said.
Two teens among four civilians injured by junta air, artillery strikes in Rakhine
At least four civilians including two students were injured in Ponnakyun Township, Rakhine State on Thursday when the junta conducted air and artillery strikes as well as drone strikes on civilian targets in villages, according to local media reports.
The junta bombing came after the Arakan Army used land mines to ambush two military vehicles carrying rations near Sin Inn Gyi Village in the township. After the ambush, regime forces also burned houses in the village, local media outlet Western News reported.
Captain among six regime troops killed by PDF in Tanintharyi
Six junta soldiers including an army captain were killed in Palaw Township, Tanintharyi Region on Tuesday when combined PDF groups raided a military camp in Nann Taung Village, according to the groups.
The two-hour clash was led by the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO), an armed wing of the Karen National Union, the PDF groups said. In the clash, two civilian houses were destroyed when Military Battalion 285 fired more than 25 artillery shells at resistance positions to support its ground troops.
The PDF raid forced the regime troops to abandon their camp and flee to the military battalion’s base, said a resistance group that joined the attack.
Seven junta soldiers killed in clashes with PDF groups in Tanintharyi
At least seven regime troops were killed in Palaw Township, Tanintharyi Region on Thursday when three clashes broke out between a combined force of PDF groups and a military detachment that was attempting to raid Kadae Village.
After two hours of fighting, the regime troops were forced to retreat from the area, said Palaw-PDF, which was involved in the fighting. No PDF fighters were injured.
Nine regime troops killed in PDF ambushes in Bago
At least nine regime soldiers were reportedly killed and 12 injured in Taungoo Township, Bago Region when Taungoo-PDF group clashed with military detachments on Monday and Wednesday.
Early Wednesday morning, two soldiers were killed when resistance fighters of Taungoo PDF Battalion 3501 used land mines to ambush a military detachment raiding nearby areas of Najak Village.
The ambush followed clashes between regime forces and the PDF groups in two locations in the township on Monday that left seven soldiers dead and 12 injured.
Clashes also broke out in the township on Saturday and Sunday.
Two junta soldiers killed in Sagaing
Local resistance group Chindwin Attack Force claimed on Wednesday that it and another PDF group used grenades to attack regime soldiers who had fallen asleep in a sentry box at a junction in the town of Monywa on Monday.
Citing military informants, the group said two regime soldiers were killed in the attack.
Two junta troops seriously injured in PDF drone strike in Sagaing
Resistance group Myanmar Defense Force-Hydra Force claimed to have seriously injured two regime soldiers on Thursday afternoon when their drone dropped two rifle grenades on regime forces stationed at a junction in Taze town, Sagaing Region.
Junta soldier killed in Sagaing
A soldier was killed and two others injured in Myaung Township, Sagaing Region on Wednesday when PDF group Zamani Revolution Force/MMU Myaung attacked drunk regime forces who were indiscriminately shooting at a bridge near a residential ward, the PDF group said.
On Tuesday, five regime soldiers were injured in the township when the resistance group used a remote-controlled parcel bomb and drones to attack the junta-run township General Administration Department office. On the same day, they also used a drone to drop three rifle grenades on regime patrols outside the town of Myaung.
Junta soldier killed by PDF sniper in Kayah
A regime soldier was killed in Demoso Township, Kayah State on Wednesday when PDF snipers from Battalion 5 of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) ambushed regime forces stationed in Thae Suu Lal Village, the resistance group claimed.
