Burma coup resistance notes April 20, 2024
Top junta brass targeted by more bombing; regime effort to retake Myawaddy getting nowhere; air base attacks destroy planes; Karen, Arakan, and Kachin seize more junta bases.
Kawthoolei-------------------
Karen army Brigade 5 cleared out the last 4 junta camps around the confluence of the Salween and Thu Mwe Rivers, which form the Kawthoolei-Thailand border, from April 12 to 14. The Karen drove out the junta troops with constant sniper and drone fire; they withdrew to a base in Lu Pleh Township (Hlaingbwe) of Pa’an District, which is still junta-occupied. (Karen Information Center 4/15) This area was the location of the legendary Karen and pan-ethnic capital, Manerplaw, before it was lost to Burmese forces in 1994. Now it is back under Karen control.
Forty-eight junta troops including a commander surrendered to Karen army Brigade 4 near the Htee Khee border crossing along the road from Tavoy (Dawei) in Beit-Tavoy District on April 15, after a battle in which 6 junta troops were killed. The Karen then occupied their camp, seized their weapons, and took dependents prisoner along with the soldiers. (KNU 4/16)
Following up on the junta armored column sent to try to retake Myawaddy, the Karen say they intercepted it and are attacking with drones, and destroyed an armored vehicle and another vehicle and killed nearly 100 of the 500 troops on board. The convoy divided itself to take 2 different routes from Kaw T’Ree toward Myawaddy. One of these is blocked by the Karen Cobra Column at Tatanku on the paved Asia Highway, the other is also blocked by the Karen White Tiger and Lion columns in northern Kaw T’Ree town as it attempts to take the circuitous dirt road through the mountains. They have not advanced toward Myawaddy in over a week. Jets are bombing and destroying Kaw T’Ree town again. (Salween Press 4/16)
The Burmese are calling this armored convoy aimed at Myawaddy “Operation Aung Zeya,” after an 18th Century Burmese king who tried to conquer Thailand and failed.
During the fighting in a northern ward of Kaw T’Ree on April 17, the White Tigers say they killed 6 junta officers of the 55th Division, including a senior commander, by sending a kamikaze drone bomb into a strategy meeting. (Salween Press 4/18) They also say the junta dropped chemical gas bombs during a 5-hour battle on April 18, sickening some of the White Tiger soldiers. Thirty more junta troops were killed in that fighting.
Meanwhile, about 200 junta troops from the defeated Battalion 275 in Myawaddy tried to run to Thailand and were refused entry, and have been hiding under the border bridge since April 11, where they dug defensive works. On the morning of April 20 Karen forces attacked those hold-outs with drones, mortars, and gunfire, killing an unknown number and removing the defensive works, causing the defeated survivors to run away along the river. The junta responded with heavy airstrikes with jets and helicopters, killing some civilians and prompting crowds of people to wade across the Thu Mwe River to Thailand for safety, where Thai troops gave them shelter in industrial cattle sheds. Junta mortar fire reportedly reached Thai territory. At this writing the fighting is ongoing and inconclusive. (Khit Thit Media, Salween Press 4/20)
The Kawthoolei government (KNU) finds itself in sudden need of recruiting administrative personnel to operate local and district government services and manage its newly-expanded domain. After the liberation of Myawaddy city, Padoh Saw Tony issued a public invitation to youth and adults to join the KNU and perform such duties. Previously, the main recruiting need was for soldiers. Now civilians are needed.
Though the BGF militia officially renounced its allegiance to the junta in January, elements of it remain aligned with the the illegal regime. BGF units in the Karen State capital Pa’an, for example, are still collaborating. (Karen Information Center 4/16)
Kachin-------------------
The Kachin army took another junta camp on April 16, on the China border in Sawlaw Township. (People's Spring 4/16) This is well north of the Kachin army’s previous areas of activity, meaning that it is consolidating and expanding its control.
The Kachin army attacked another junta battalion camp in Tanai Township on April 15, finally capturing it the next day. Only 2 junta troops are known to have died, but the rest fled, and the Kachin captured weapons and ammunition. (The 74 Media 4/18) Two days later on April 17 all the troops from another junta camp in Hpakant Township fled before the Kachin could attack and went to another base, leaving a lot of ammunition to be captured. (People's Spring 4/18)
The latest Kachin army advance is in Waingmaw Township, adjacent to the state capital Myitkyina, where it attacked a 4-vehicle convoy, set one truck on fire, killed at least 13 junta troops, and wounded 4 in a battle that began on April 19. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 4/20)
Arakan-------------------
The Arakan Army began attacking junta positions in Thandwe Township, the second-southernmost township in the state, on April 13. The center and north are already mostly liberated. (The Irrawaddy 4/13) Forty-four junta troops were killed when the AA captured a border camp in Maungdaw Township, and 19 more troops/police escaped into Bangladesh. (Khit Thit Media 4/16) In the face of an AA attack, all 46 junta troops at another border camp in Maungdaw Township fled into Bangladesh on April 13 along with about 200 family members. The AA then occupied the camp. (Narinjara News 4/17)
Southern Shan-------------------
PDFs in Nyaungshwe Township intercepted a junta column on April 13, leading to a battle in which between 30 and 40 junta troops were killed as well as 2 commanders of the PDFs, and more than 20 junta troops were wounded. The junta withdrew, leaving its dead lying where they fell. (People's Spring 4/15)
Meanwhile, fighting continues in Sisaing town, as the Pa-O ethnic force refuses to cede complete control back to the junta. The Pa-O killed 15 junta troops including an officer in fighting during the Thinjan holiday April 14-16. (People's Spring 4/16) Sisaing was liberated during mid-January, but a junta offensive fought its way back in on April 3 after basically destroying the town with airstrikes and mortar fire.
A Karenni defense forces sniper plies her craft against junta troops. (Chindwin News Agency 4/19)
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
Two PDFs in Dandah Oo Township of Mandalay Region fired a total of fifteen 107mm shock missiles into the junta’s air base there in the early hours of April 17. They hit a hanger that houses 6 fighter jets, damaging at least some of them, and also causing damage to the runway. (Mandalay Free Press 4/19) Two days later another PDF fired 10 of the shock missiles into another junta air base near Myitkyina in Kachin State; damage isn’t given. (Myanmar Now 4/19)
Another PDF missile attack on April 16 targeted a junta factory in Seikphyu Township of Magway Region that produces aircraft bombs. The missiles struck a weapons storage warehouse among other things. (Than Lwin Khet News 4/17)
In Yetashei Township just south of Naypyitaw Region, PDFs intercepted a junta column of 130 troops and fought a 3-hour battle on April 17. Over 30 junta and 4 PDF soldiers were killed. (People's Spring 4/18)
PDFs attacked a 6-vehicle junta convoy of 250 new recruits being sent for training in Ayadaw Township of Sagaing Region on April 12. They say 3 of the trucks were damaged, a captain and more than 20 recruits were killed, 15 were wounded, and 45 recruits and 3 officers were taken prisoner. Only 7 guns were captured since the recruits were unarmed, but the PDFs seized grenades, mortar rounds, a drone jammer, and ammunition. (Myaelatt Athan 4/14)
Just hours after the rain of missiles on the junta’s officer training academy in Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Region on April 14 (see below), PDFs in nearby Naungcho Township of northern Shan State seized a junta camp in a Buddhist padoda during a 7-hour battle, killing 21 junta troops and capturing more than 40 weapons, ammunition, and a drone jammer. Troops responded by firing mortars into civilian communities nearby, prompting a flow of refugees, then they retreated. (Khit Thit Media 4/15)
Urban warfare------------------
Bombs exploded in Mandalay on April 9 and 14. The first one targeted the junta’s Thinjan holiday venue under preparation, the second went off near the Thinjan stages at the junta city admin offices during the forced festivities, and injured 12 people, 3 of them seriously. (Myanmar Now 4/14)
Likewise in Taungoo, 2 bombs rocked the junta’s Thinjan venue by the junta-owned Myanma Economic Bank on April 16. The bombs were timed when only security personnel were there. (The Irrawaddy B 4/16)
An urban guerrilla group fired 3 grenades at an air force officers’ dormitory and an inspection checkpoint at the Mingaladon air base in Yangon on April 18. There were injuries and ambulances, but details are not available. (Chindwin Yoma News 4/18) The same day, two bombs targeted junta admin offices in North Dagon Township of Yangon. (Khit Thit Media 4/18) On April 16 bombs exploded at the junta police station in Hlaingthaya Township and an admin office in Insein Township of Yangon. The following day explosions shook the junta passport office in Yankin and another office in Insein. (Mizzima 4/17)
Junta decline------------------
Deputy dictator Soe Win was not seen at Thinjan holiday formalities, unusually. His absence fueled speculation that his injuries from the double drone bombing in Mawlamyaing last week are serious, but the junta has released no details. (The Irrawaddy B 4/14)
The dictator himself, Min Aung Hlaing, left Naypyitaw after the April 4 mass drone attack on his home and other targets, and went to Pyin Oo Lwin in Mandalay Region where the junta has its officer training institute. On April 14 the military academy was struck by at least 30 shock missiles that caused widespread explosions in many of the sites the dictator was known to visit. The missiles were followed by an exchange of gunfire in the city. The dictator was due to make an appearance at a Thinjan holiday ceremony the next day, but he left the town by helicopter that night. Two military cadets were killed in the blasts as well as 2 junta-aligned civilians; 12 people were wounded. People abandoned the Thinjan ceremony. (People's Spring 4/14)
Min Aung Hlaing was bombed in Naypyitaw and moved, then he was bombed in Pyin Oo Lwin and moved, and has not reappeared in public. The dictator could be said to be on the run for his life.
Police guarding the parliament building in Naypyitaw got into a heated argument with each other on April 15, and 3 of them ended up shot to death. (Khit Thit Media 4/16)
Officers at the junta police training academy in Yamethin Township of Mandalay Region have been sexually abusing and raping female cadets. They have prevented any abuse complaints from being filed, but accounts have leaked out. In response, the headmaster, Col. Myo Thant Kyo, confiscated all the mobile phones of female cadets and is inspecting them for evidence of information leaks concerning the systematic rapes and sexual assaults at the academy. (Khit Thit Media 4/20)
Terrorism--------------------
Russian-supplied helicopter gunships fired on a hospital in Ayadaw Township of Sagaing Region on April 13, killing a doctor and wounding 3 others. (Khit Thit Media 4/14) Firing on hospitals is both an international war crime and a junta trademark.
An airstrike on civilians in Demawso Township of Karenniland killed 6 of them including a child on April 20. (Kantarawaddy Times 4/20) Meanwhile, gangs of junta troops marauded in eastern Monywa Township of Sagaing Region, burning homes and whole villages. (People's Spring 4/19)
In the Kyaikmayaw prison in occupied Dooplaya District of Kawthoolei, the drinking water system in the women’s side has broken down and junta authorities have declined to fix it. The 500+ women prisoners, mostly jailed for pro-democracy activities, have no access to potable water or clean water for bathing and menstrual hygiene, which is leading to health problems. (Khit Thit Media 4/14)
Data for Myanmar, a think tank, said that the junta has destroyed over 83,000 civilian homes since the 2021 attempted coup. (People's Spring 4/15) The junta’s intent in targeting civilians is to intimidate the population into submission. At no point has that strategy worked during this revolution, but the junta persists with it anyway.
Political and economic-------------------
According to a UN report, Burma’s poverty rate went from 24.8% in 2017 to 49.7% today, a 100% increase. The attempted coup happened at the beginning of 2021. (Than Lwin Times 4/13)
-စီၤ ထံဆၢ
The Junta decline section is of particular interest, I think. The combination of Soe Win's unknown status and Min Aung Hlaing's constant movements seem to indicate that all levels of the Junta's command apparatus is under threat. The police shooting outside the parliament building on April 15 is also something quite shocking, and leaves one pondering as to what the officers were arguing about. Of course, the abuses happening against female cadets in the police training academy are horrible as well, and the subsequent cover-up is doing nothing more that damning the junta even further. Between the recent conscription and now this, the junta's popularity isn't increasing anytime soon, or ever. Other than that, thank you for continually making these updates, as this substack is one of my main sources for keeping up with the conflict. We will surely see more victories by the PDFs and allied EAOs and guerilla groups.