Burma coup resistance notes August 18, 2022
Ethnic regions-------------------
Karenni defense forces report a fierce 90-minute battle yesterday at Kone Tha, about 5 km north of Demawso town, where they believe they killed 6 junta troops. After Karenni forces defended with mortars, the junta troops fired mortars and guns randomly, destroying some private homes. One Karenni fighter was evacuated with a thigh wound. The Karenni say the junta is bringing 400 troops to try to control Demawso town. (People's Spring)
Two days after Karen forces stormed 2 police stations in Kaw T’Ree town (Kawkareik on Burmese maps) in Kawthoolei (Karen nation) Dooplaya District, 20 junta troops arrived in town in armored cars with mortars yesterday and began firing randomly in the town, driving back Karen army & PDF forces. Then the troops busted into homes and searched door-to-door. (Karen Information Center)
A junta officer who walked outside his base in Kamamaung, Kawthoolei Mutraw District (Hpapun township on Burmese maps) was shot by the Karen army yesterday. (Salween Press) Karen army Brigade 5, covering Mutraw District (Hpapun township on Burmese maps) announced its combat statistics for the first half of August: 56 clashes took place, killing 43 junta troops and/or their BGF proxies, and wounding 17. One Karen soldier was killed. The BGF continued to fire mortars randomly into civilian communities, causing people to flee as refugees. There are over 100,000 war refugees in Kawthoolei’s Mutraw District who urgently require shelter in this rain-soaked season, as well as food, clothing, and health care. Some of the refugees are local, others fled here from elsewhere in Kawthoolei or Burma. Kawthoolei Doo Tha Htoo and Kler Lwi Htoo Districts have even more refugees, with over 150,000 each. (Kawthoolei government KNU)
Junta scorched earth village terrorism campaign---------------
Junta troops are repeating their strategy of sudden helicopter-borne attacks on villages, this time at Kinywa in Kani township of Sagaing Region. Yesterday afternoon a jet and 3 helicopters began firing on the village, and ground troops blocked the roads to prevent escape. Fifty troops landed and began attacking the village and the residents. Witnesses heard the sounds of people being beaten. Kinywa has already been burned once in May by junta/Pyu Saw Htee thugs. (Myaelatt Athan)
Yesterday’s junta invasion of Ngatahmaw village in Yesagyo township of Magway Region left the entire village completely destroyed.
In Kalay township of Sagaing Region, 40 junta troops attacked an urban guerrilla camp near Kalay town on Aug. 16. The guerrillas all escaped, so the troops shot and killed two farmers who were planting rice nearby, and burned down Lay Eain Su village. (Khit Thit Media)
A report just emerged of an invasion of Zayawaddy village in Ye Oo township on Aug. 13, in which 59 family homes were torched by a gang of 140 junta troops. The troops have now moved on to Depayin township to continue the terror attacks. (Mizzima)
“Tens of thousands of war refugees” in Kachin State urgently need food, clothes, mosquito nets, bedding, and medications after junta troops completely destroyed Seizin village and other communities. (Kachin News Group)
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
Yesterday PDFs in Palay conducted a rescue operation of 2 junta soldiers who contacted them to defect from the junta to the PDF, but they were trapped by their army units. The PDFs were able to extract them and take them to safety in a liberated area. The soldiers made the call during a battle the day before. (Myaelatt Athan)
PDFs and urban guerrillas are increasingly targeting immigration and population service offices and personnel, as these are charged with compiling voter lists for the sham elections announced for some time in 2023. The junta has killed or jailed all the majority NLD party leaders it can find, and will not allow any anti-regime candidates to run. Aside from that, elections cannot be held in large swaths of the country that are outside the control of the junta, and the general population would boycott any such bogus poll. (The Irrawaddy)
Yesterday a PDF coalition in Monywa township blew up a gang of pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee thugs who were extorting money from travelers on the Chaung Oo road. All six of the thugs there were hit, 4 of them died. (Khit Thit Media) In Kantbalu township a pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee leader was assassinated in a tea shop yesterday. (Myaelatt Athan)
In Mandalay Region, a PDF attacked a convoy of 200 troops traveling in 6 trucks through Maddaya township yesterday, blowing a truck off the road and killing at least 6 troops and wounding others. The convoy stopped and camped to bury the dead and evacuate the wounded. (Myaelatt Athan)
In Magway Region, Myaing township, local PDFs attacked junta troops who were invading Tegyi village on Aug. 15-16, killing 8 of them. Yesterday a vehicle came to collect their bodies, and it was hit by a roadside bomb. Casualties from yesterday aren’t reported. The angry troops shot and killed 2 nearby market vendors. The PDFs captured some ammunition and equipment. (People's Spring)
PDFs attacked junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee thugs who were burning Ngatayaw village yesterday in Yesagyo township. They saw 8 of the terror squad get hit and fall, but they don’t know how many died. The troops burned over 600 civilian homes in Ngatayaw.
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Urban warfare------------------
In Yangon, urban guerrillas bombed the security bunker at the entrance to a junta base in Okalappa township yesterday, and two bombs exploded at the junta admin office in Thanlyin township last night, the first to create an incident, the second to attack troops who arrived afterward; casualties aren’t known at this point. (People's Spring)
Political-------------------
Immediately after UN special envoy for Burma Noeleen Heyser met with junta dictator Min Aung Hlaing, the regime circulated a photo of the two shaking hands and declared it official UN recognition of the illegal junta. While the UN would dispute that, Ms Heyser did indeed walk into a public relations trap that benefits only the junta. (The Irrawaddy)
In light of the junta’s catastrophic mismanagement of the economy that has resulted in acute fuel shortages and a tripling of fuel prices, the regime has now hatched a scheme to import fuel from Russia, which is not so much an ally as a vendor selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military hardware to the junta through military crony front companies. Now the same strategy is to be used to buy Russian fuel, while enriching the generals and their family members. This scheme replaces the regular peacetime system of fuel imports by private corporations, thus moving another significant chunk of the national economy under junta control. (The Irrawaddy) In another illustration of crony profiteering, the dictator’s son Aung Pyeon has won a contract to build a military hospital in Yangon.
The cash-starved regime is again trying to sell government properties by public auction, this time in Yangon, Bago, Mandalay, Irrawaddy, and Shan regions. The National Unity Government has maintained all along that any property sales attempted by the illegal military regime are void, and would-be buyers will lose their money and may be prosecuted when the coup is over and the new government takes possession of those properties. (Myanmar Now)