Burma coup resistance notes April 6, 2024
Drones breach Naypyitaw defenses; border town falls to the Kachin; huge supply convoy blocked from reaching Chin State; liberated Sisaing town lost back to fascist forces; Karen close in on Myawaddy.
Kachin-------------------
The general in charge of the junta’s 88th Division, Gen. Win Htoo Oo Moe, was killed in fighting in Momauk Township on March 29. This is one of the most senior officers in the junta military. (People's Spring 3/30)
On April 1 the Kachin captured the Sein Lone junta camp that was the last one protecting the Lwejei China border crossing. The next day, April 2, the Kachin won control of the town. Massive amounts of weapons and munitions were captured at Sein Lone, and the Kachin have been hauling them with large trucks. There are no more junta camps along that road to the border. The Kachin liberation administration has assumed governance in Lwejei town. (Khit Thit Media 4/2, 4/4)
The Kachin have captured over 63 junta camps and bases captured since the launch of Operation 03/07 a month ago.
Civilians are streaming out of Momauk town, between Banmaw and Lwejei, in anticipation that the Kachin army will turn its firepower on junta forces there and liberate the town in the coming days. On April 2 the Kachin army captured a junta camp only 3 km from Momauk. A Kachin army source commented that junta troops in the camps resist at first, then run away when attacked. (Kachin News Group 4/3)
The Kachin captured 2 more junta outposts in Momauk Township on April 3, (Kachin News Group 4/3) and a camp in Mansi Township, south of Banmaw city, on April 4. In that one, about 50 junta troops abandoned the camp due to shelling by the Kachin. (The 74 Media)
Arakan-------------------
The Arakan Army has surrounded and besieged multiple junta battalions at the western command HQ in Am Township, and the junta is having to resupply them by air drops. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 3/31) On April 5 the AA captured the battalion HQ camp in Buthidaung Township; over 80 junta troops died. (Than Lwin Khet News 4/6)
During the fighting in Am Township, junta troops fired mortars that exploded near the Chinese oil and gas pipelines on March 28. Witnesses said they appeared to be aiming deliberately. Now there are reports that Arakan Army officers were called to China so that Beijing could pressure them to enter a ceasefire like the one that stopped the Brotherhood Alliance surge in northern Shan State. Before the attempted coup, the Chinese were trying to build a seaport at Kyauk Phyu in Arakan State to serve as China’s access point to the Indian Ocean, but the war put that on hold. So once again, Chinese meddling may slow the progress of the Spring Revolution and prolong the civil war. (“China is trying to establish a ceasefire not only in North Shan but also in Arakan,” by Tha Thi Maung, The Irrawaddy Burmese, 3/30)
The Arakan Army has captured 9 major towns so far, and is surrounding 6 more in preparation for seizure.
Kawthoolei-------------------
After libarating Papun town on March 27, the Karen army and its allies subdued the junta’s fortress Battalion 19 camp at the edge of town on March 30. Weapons were captured. (Local sources 3/30) Meanwhile, jets are dropping large bombs on the town, killing 8 civilians including a Buddhist monk and injuring 15 on March 31. Much of Papun town has been destroyed by airstrikes. (People's Spring 4/1) Like other liberated localities, if the junta cannot control a place, it seeks to ruin it so nobody can be there.
Meanwhile in Dooplaya District, Karen army Brigade 6 and allies seized the Yekan Kone junta camp in Lay Kay Kaw on March 31 after a week-long siege. Karen forces battered the camp with drones and snipers. During the seizure a few dead troops were found including a major, the rest fled. Lay Kay Kaw is now back under Karen control. (Khit Thit Media 3/31)
Likewise on April 5, Karen Brigade 6 finally overcame the 3rd and last junta camp in Thinganyinaung on a strategic hilltop, just 10 km from the Myawaddy border town. Eighteen junta troops were killed there and many prisoners taken, as well as weapons captured. The Karen had been attacking that camp for at least 2 weeks. Immediately after the camp fell, fighting was reported at the entrance to Myawaddy city at the junta’s Battalion 275 base, where another 28 junta troops were killed. The junta sent reinforcements from Pa’an, but they could not pass Kaw T’Ree and Thinganyinaung. (The Irrawaddy E, Khit Thit Media 4/5)
During the 2nd half of March the junta tried twice to retake its lost Battalion 355 base near Myawaddy in Dooplaya District, but suffered 20 troops killed and a lot of weapons captured by the Karen army, which retained control. (KNU 4/2)
The Karen army is now attacking at multiple points along the Asia Highway, including the remaining junta battalion camp in Kaw T’Ree town and Myawaddy. Junta planes are bombing and the camps are firing mortars into surrounding civilian areas. The Karen have Kaw T’Ree completely surrounded. (People's Spring 4/5)
The junta sent 2 trucks of reinforcements to an artillery battalion in Wey Township of Beit-Tavoy District, but the Karen army intercepted them. A sniper took out the driver of one, causing it to veer off the road and turn over, resulting in 40 casualties. This occurred as the trucks were heading south from Ye in Mon State along the Tavoy road. Although this occurred in Karen Brigade 4 area, it was the Brigade 6 27th Battalion from Dooplaya District that carried out the attack. (Khit Thit Media 4/1)
Also in Beit-Tavoy District, PDFs in Launglone Township attacked junta administrative positions in Launglone town and killed 12 troops and Pyu Saw Htee terrorists on March 31. (Khit Thit Media 4/1)
Chin-------------------
The junta is attempting another of its large resupply convoys into Chin State. About 120 trucks started in Pakokku, Magway Region on March 22, to pass through Pauk, Kyauktu, and Yaw before heading toward Mindat in Chin State. Already the convoy has suffered several attacks, including the destruction of 10 trucks. One was carrying 33 troops and another was carrying drones, and they were destroyed by landmines. Then 8 food trucks were struck by PDFs who attempted to steal them, but were prevented by junta troops, so they burned them. In over a week the convoy has advanced 40 to 50 km, not even a walking pace. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 3/30) During that time PDFs say they have killed at least 80 troops of the convoy in various landmine and drone attacks. The convoy is currently stuck in Kamma Township. The road has become so dangerous for the junta that it is using bulldozers to clear a new route, which greatly slows its progress. The PDFs can strike just as easily on the alternative route. (People's Spring 3/31)
Karenni-------------------
Karenni defense forces managed to rescue 134 civilians being held hostage as human shields by junta troops in Hpasaung, on March 23. They were being held at the town fire station. Intense fighting is reported in Hpasaung, Mobye, and Pekhon, but it is still inconclusive as of now.
Southern Shan-----------------
After 32 days of continuous junta assault with jets, helicopters, mortar fire, and ground assaults, the junta finally retook much of Sisaing town on April 3 from Pa-O ethnic forces who had liberated it. They did it by kidnapping civilians and using them as human shields. Due to the constant airstrikes, not much is left of the town besides rubble, and civililans are stepping on junta landmines. The Pa-O still have a presence, and combat is still intermittent. (Myanmar Now 4/3) After Kawlin in Sagaing Region, Sisaing is the 2nd liberated town to fall back under junta control. Over 40 have been liberated, and the junta has nowhere near enough strength to retake more than a few of them.
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
A coalition of northern Sagaing PDFs counter-attacked junta troops conducting terrorist raids on villages on the west side of Kawlin, the town that was liberated for 3 months and then re-occupied and destroyed by the junta. After burning villages, the troops camped in a monastery and a school, where the PDFs fired on them with mortars and small arms on March 31, killing at least 20. (Khit Thit Media 4/1)
Another coordinated PDF attack in Chaing Oo Township killed 17 junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee terrorists on March 31. (People's Spring 4/1) On April 1-2 PDFs in Myaing Township of Magway Region invaded a junta base at Linkadaw and burned the bunkers there. The junta responded with jet and helicopter airstrikes. (Khit Thit Media 4/3) Then on April 5, PDFs in Pauk Township of Magway Region intercepted 200 junta troops as they emerged from a police barracks, using mines and gunfire to kill 22 of them.
A PDF fired five 107mm shock missiles at a junta weapons factory in Pauk Township on April 2, causing explosions and damage within the factory. The extent isn’t known. (Khit Thit Media 4/4)
Urban warfare------------------
The Kloud drone force and several others under the National Unity Government Ministry of Defense flew 29 fixed-wing drones into the Naypyitaw airport, dictator Min Aung Hlaing’s house, and the junta HQ in Zayathiri Township of Naypitaw Region on April 4, causing explosions. The drone teams report that 15 junta troops were killed and others wounded including 4 officers at the airport. The attack damaged the air strip, some aircraft, the map room and roof at the military HQ, and the dictator’s house. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 4/5, Mizzima, Khit Thit Media 4/4) Video provided by the NUG shows a drone overflying the airport, meaning that Revolutionary technicians found a way to neutralize powerful drone jammers and air defenses used by the junta to shield the airport. The junta is reportedly in panic mode, seeking to bolster its air defenses. (The Irrawaddy B 4/4)
An urban guerrilla group fired a 107mm shock missile at the home of a military commander in Hlaing Township of Yangon on April 2. The officer was targeted because of his involvement in the forced recruitment campaign. There were injuries inside the house, but details aren’t known. (People's Spring 4/3)
A bomb blasted the junta immigration office in Mandalay’s Maha Aungmyay Township on April 5, injuring 9 people. The bombing targeted officials involved in the junta’s forced military recruitment campaign. (Mandalay Free Press 4/5) There were also other bombings in Yangon at junta targets.
The National Unity Government is distributing leaflets in Yangon regarding the junta’s forced conscription campaign, with information and contacts for young people needing to get to safety and avoid the draft. (People's Spring 4/5)
Junta decline------------------
A report from the Kachin army claims that troops are firing rocket-propelled grenades from the windows of helicopters, and Chinese-made Y12 jets are dropping rocks, suggesting that the supply of bombs and missiles is insufficient for the junta’s nationwide air terror campaign. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 4/3) Other reports have said that at least 10 of the junta’s 25 weapons factories are not operational due to PDF control around them and dwindling workforce and supplies.
Aging veterans forcibly recalled to duty by the junta in Irrawaddy Region were sent immediately to the front lines in Taungoo Township of East Bago Region, without any re-training. (Khit Thit Media 4/1) The junta is desperately trying to plug gaps that continually open up due to dwindling troop numbers, lost battalions, and fighting on many fronts. Taungoo lies between the Karen army and the military capital Naypyitaw.
Junta propaganda shows smiling young men being fed well and welcomed by young women with garlands as they enter military training, calling them “volunteers.” The reality is that they are forcibly recruited, denied their salaries, cut off from contact with families, and shipped to their likely deaths at the front lines after almost no training. Meanwhile, another forced recruit has killed himself rather than serve the junta; he hung himself in Beit Township of Kawthoolei Beit-Tavoy District. (Tanintharyi Times 4/1) Another one, a 27-year-old father of two, died 4 days into his military training near Yangon. (Myanmar Now 4/1)
Over 20 junta officials involved in the forcible recruitment have been assassinated, a number that grows almost daily. (The Irrawaddy E 4/2)
The junta appointed a deputy police chief to run its “ministry of commerce.” (Mizzima 3/31) The regime’s economic illiteracy is a major factor in its mismanagement and the free fall of Burma’s business and well-being since the 2021 attempted coup.
Three junta boats sank in the Irrawaddy River as they were attempting to take supplies from Maddaya in Mandalay Region to Wetlet in Sagaing Region and bring back looted property on March 31. Sudden wind blew up and swamped them. The roads on the Sagaing side are controlled by PDFs, who fired on the boats, and ground troops were unable to reach them. Casualties aren’t known. (Mandalay Free Press 4/1)
Terrorism--------------------
Troops at junta checkpoints between Taungoo city and Kawthoolei’s mountainous Taw Oo District have been sexually assaulting female travelers, extorting money, and causing hunger by restricting the transport of food. (Karen Information Center 41)
According to the UN, 2.8 million people are now refugees inside of Burma. The number has increased because liberated towns and districts have grown, the the junta bombs and tries to destroy any place it does not control, forcing residents to run.
The fatal results of junta airstrikes in Kawthoolei. (Local sources 4/2)
Political and economic-------------------
Another UN official, Under-Secretary-General Gilles Michaud, went to Naypyitaw to legitimize the illegal regime and to discuss turning over massive amounts of humanitarian refugee assistance to the junta to use for its purposes. (The Irrawaddy 4/5) At the present time there are no mechanisms to hold UN or other international officials accountable for their complicity with war crimes and atrocities enabled or abetted by their assistance to the regime.
In New York, the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council urged a ban on exports of all aviation fuel to Burma, since even fuel meant for civilian airlines gets used for the regime’s bombing of schools, hospitals, homes, and religious sanctuaries. (People's Spring 4/5)
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