Burma coup resistance notes April 27, 2024
Rocket barrage devastates junta command center; Karen army loses control of Myawaddy; junta bombs another hospital; Thai military regime tries to bolster its Burma counterpart.
Kawthoolei-------------------
After the Karen army attacked the leftover 200 junta troops from the defeated Battalion 275 in Myawaddy on April 20, the junta began intensive jet and helicopter airstrikes intended to destroy the city, as it has done to other towns where it lost control. Thousands of civilians fled across the Thu Mwe River to Thailand, though some have begun to return. Then the Karen forces halted their assault on the sub-bridge junta troops on the morning of April 21, 36 hours after attacking. (People's Spring 4/21) At least 30 of the junta troops were killed in the bridge battle and 35 others were treated at the Mae Sot General Hospital in adjacent Thailand. (The Irrawaddy B, People's Spring 4/22) On April 22 jets dropped six 200-pound bombs near the new border bridge in Myawaddy, killing at least 10 civilians. (Khit Thit Media 4/22)
The pro-junta BGF militia, which publicly renounced its ties to the junta in January, is still in fact supporting it. This week the BGF and the Thai regime assisted over 100 junta troops to return to Myawaddy via the Thai border town of Mae Sot, whereupon they re-occupied the Battalion 275 camp conquered by the Karen army on April 11. (Salween Press 4/27)
The Karen army has backed off for the time being, leaving the BGF and a small junta contingent in Myawaddy, while it focuses on intercepting the armored column in Kaw T’Ree. The BGF is playing a dangerous game; if it thinks it can hold Myawaddy against the Karen forces that defeated 4 tough junta battalions there, it greatly overestimates itself. BGF soldiers’ experience is in guarding Chinese casinos; their performance in actual battles has been pathetic, the opposite of Karen Brigade 6. The BGF has now set itself on a collision course with the Karen army that it will not survive.
The armored convoy sent from Pa’an to try to retake Myawaddy has been stalled in Kaw T’Ree for 2 weeks now, still separated from Myawaddy by 40 kilometers and a mountain range. On April 21 Karen forces inflicted more damage, killing 6 junta troops including an officer and capturing a second armored vehicle out of the original 8, as well as 2 other trucks, one with a mounted 50 caliber machine gun and ammunition. Junta troops suffered casualties and retreated back to Kaw Nwe village, still unable to take the road into the mountains. (Than Lwin Khet News 4/22)
In that battle in Kaw T’Ree, the junta again used chemical weapons. Gas from bombs sickened nearly Karen fighters of the Jah Phyu (White Tiger) Column, leaving them vomiting, breathing with difficulty, dizzy or unconscious, and unable to eat. (The Irrawaddy 4/27)
Not far away in Pa’an District, junta troops abandoned a camp at Maneipalaw on April 23. Karen army Brigade 7 destroyed it the following day. (Salween Press 4/25) Pa’an District being a zone of little military activity, the junta may have needed to redeploy its shrinking troop strength to active combat areas elsewhere.
In the far south, a 2-day siege ended with 40 junta troops fleeing their camp on the Thai border in Tavoy Township of Beit-Tavoy District on April 24. The Karen army and allied PDF then seized the camp and a number of weapons. (Khit Thit Media 4/25)
In the north, the battle of Papun continues. The Karen army controls the town, but 4 junta battalion camps were holding out south of town. On April 25, after three weeks of drone bombing the camps, the Karen army and allies stormed another of those camps. There were a few deaths and dozens of wounded on the Karen side; junta casualties aren’t known. The Karen captured at least 40 weapons. (Mutraw News 4/24)
Kachin-------------------
Junta troops moved into Momauk town, between Banmaw town and the lost border town of Lwejei, on April 22, accompanied by mortar fire from batteries in Banmaw, 15 km away. The troops have occupied churches and taken civilians as human shields, threatening to burn the churches and the town if the Kachin army advances. About 2/3 of the population had already fled in anticipation of fighting. (The 74 Media)
In another battle, Kachin-led forces spent 4 days assaulting a junta base in Seizin in Hpakant Township. Despite heavy junta airstrikes, on April 24 twenty-three junta soldiers including the commander surrendered and the Kachin captured the camp and its weapons. The Kachin now control all the roads that connect to Hpakant, the center of the jade mining industry which was previously a revenue source for the junta. (Kachin News Group B 4/24)
Then on April 26 the Kachin took another junta camp at Singbo, between the main Kachin cities of Myitkyina and Banmaw. Retaliatory airstrikes killed and injured civilians in Singbo town. (Than Lwin Khet News 4/26)
Arakan-------------------
The Arakan Army continues to battle junta forces in Thandwe Township near the popular tourist resort of Ngapali Beach. Control of a hydro power plant is in play. In a battle at a village calle Sayot on April 23, the AA killed at least 40 junta troops and wounded a similar number. The regime responded with artillery fire from a navy ship and airstrikes. (Khit Thit Media 4/23, Ayeyarwaddy Times 4/26)
Elsewhere, the AA captured a border camp in Maungdaw Township on April 23 when the troops there surrendered, and took a battalion base in Myepon Township on April 24 when the junta evacuated it and pulled the troops closer to its embattled western military command in nearby Am Township. More junta troops and border guards fled into Bangladesh, and were exchanged by Bangladesh for over 100 of its nationals in Burmese prisons. (Western News 4/24)
Civilians in Paletwa Township of southern Chin State, which is under Arakan Army control, report draconian travel restrictions similar to those of the junta. These include a requirement for written permission from the AA and payment of a small fee in order to travel, and giving details of the direction and length of trips and where travelers will lodge. Movements of youth are more controlled because they are subject to conscription by the AA, exactly as in junta-controlled areas. These controls have prompted some residents to flee to the adjacent Indian state of Mizoram. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 4/24) Similar complaints have been heard from the expanded areas now controlled by the Kokang and Ta’ang ethnic armies. These groups, partially supported by China, are shaping up to have Chinese administrative styles that contrast with the southern ethnic groups like the Karenni, Karen, and Chin, which thus far are more democratic and permissive.
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
The series of bombings of high-level junta targets continues. On April 24, PDFs in Sagaing Region fired 20 rockets and 5 drone bombs into the northwest regional command center in Monywa city, causing explosions and an unspecified number of casualties. (Khit Thit Media 4/25) At leasts one rocket hit a meeting of officers, killing 2 of high rank. Another rocket hit soldiers on a tarmac, killing a major and splattering body parts. Officers’ quarters, a food warehouse, and an office bulding were also hit. The junta responded by firing artillery into surrounding villages, and a jet came and circled but found no targets. (Khit Thit Media 2/25) This attack follows two drone-bombings in Mawlamyaing that put deputy dictator Soe Win out of action until now, a mass-drone attack on Naypyitaw on April 4, and a series of bombings in the junta’s military academy at Pyin Oo Lwin, all within April. They are coordinated by the National Unity Government Ministry of Defense.
The PDF attacks in northern Shan State’s Naungcho Township have moved closer to Pyin Oo Lwin city in nearby Mandalay Region. On April 21 fighting was reported inside Pyin Oo Lwin Township, with junta batteries in the city firing northward. (People's Spring 4/21) The junta’s attempt to retake a lost base 15 km north of Pyin Oo Lwin failed and resulted in the loss of 59 troops killed over an 11-day period.
PDFs in Sagaing Region have not given up on their lost town of Kawlin. As junta troops emerged from it to terrorize a nearby village on April 21, the PDFs killed 20 of them, seizing guns, grenades, mortars, and ammunition, and driving the troops back. (Khit Thit Media 4/22)
In Yetashei Township of northern Bago Region near Naypyitaw, PDFs fought 400 junta troops for 5 days starting April 17. During that time the PDFs say there were at least 50 junta casualties, as well as 4 of their own soldiers killed, 1 missing, and many wounded. Jets came and dropped bombs. (Myaelatt Athan 4/22)
Likewise in Pauk Township of Magway Region, PDFs spent 6 days drone-bombing and shooting at a junta police barracks in Palankaing. It finally paid off on April 22 when the PDFs seized the barracks. Five junta police/troops were killed and 6 captured alive; others fled. Weapons were seized. Then junta aircraft bombed and strafed the police barracks. (Myaelatt Athan 4/23)
PDFs in Mandalay Region’s Myinchan Township started attacking 4 separate junta positions simultaneously on April 20. On April 24 they announced the capture of a junta/Pyu Saw Htee camp that had 60 operatives in it, where 15 Pyus were killed and 5 were captured, but the PDF had to withdraw when junta reinforcements arrived. The PDF gained a mortar and shells, guns, and bullets. Two 107mm shock missiles fired at the gate of another junta camp killed 4 troops. More missiles were fired at navy boats docked in the Irrawaddy River and the navy port there. (People's Spring 4/24) Later in the day an airstrike killed civilians, and troops burned 400 local homes. (Mandalay Free Press 4/24)
Junta decline------------------
In Magway Region, the lottery system has failed to generate the numbers of forced recruits desired by the junta, so police are stopping traffic on the roads and kidnapping young male travelers to send to army training. (BNI Online 4/24)
Terrorism--------------------
Jets bombed and completely destroyed a civilian hospital in Mindat Township, Chin State on April 25, killing 2 inpatients who could not be moved. (Myanmar Now 4/25) Again, targeting hospitals is both an international war crime and a deliberate strategy of the Naypyitaw terrorist regime.
The junta has been attempting to pit different ethnic groups against each other in Arakan State, creating fake Rohingya protests against the Arakan Army. The junta has threatened to burn down the homes of 1,000 Rohingya if they did not protest against the AA. (People's Spring 4/21) The junta has already kidnapped hundreds of Rohingya youths and sent them to their deaths in futile battles against the AA.
In Pekhon Township of Karenniland junta troops kidnapped 5 men and women age 32 to 42 and tortured them to death. One of them was shot dead in front of her children. (Khit Thit Media 4/26)
In Sisaing town in southern Shan State, junta troops are looting the homes of people who fled the fighting, and selling the items back to refugees who return to the town. They are also robbing the returnees of their cell phones. (Mekong News 4/24)
Political and economic-------------------
The Thailand military junta is again proposing actions to prop up the illegal regime in Naypitaw. After mentioning “peace talks” between “all parties” including the Naypyitaw war criminals, Thailand’s foreign ministry is now urging the current rotating chair of the regional block ASEAN, Laos, to form a committee to deal with the Burma issue. (Mizzima 4/25) At no point has the Thai regime contacted Burma’s National Unity Government or any of the pro-democracy forces. It continues to talk around and about the people of Burma without discussing anything directly with them.
-စီၤ ထံဆၢ