Burma coup resistance notes August 17, 2022
Revolution-related news is limited today, as most news stories focus on heavy rains and flooding in the major cities.
Ethnic regions-------------------
In Arakan State, the Arakan army and junta troops are fighting again at a spot on the Bangladesh border in Maungdaw township. No information is available yet about outcomes. (The Irrawaddy)
The Kachin army & allied PDF attacked and destroyed a junta checkpoint in Indaw township of northern Sagaing Region yesterday where troops had been extorting money from truckers and travelers. (Kachin News Group)
Junta scorched earth village terrorism campaign---------------
Junta troops invaded Ngata Hmaw village of Yesagyo township, Magway Region today and burned it down, forcing the entire population to flee into the bush as refugees. There was no battle or PDF presence or other provocation, the attack was spontaneous. Last week troops ransacked the Buddhist monastery, robbed property, and burned motorcycles. (Khit Thit Media)
Junta troops burned down two neighboring villages, both named Auk Chine Zauk, in Pauk township of Magway Region yesterday. Troops burned all the houses, the schools, and the teachers’ dormitories, and killed people’s livestock. (Myanmar Now)
As of yesterday, bodies of dead civilians were still being found in Yinpawtai village of Magway/Kalay regions, after a junta terror squad occupied the village Aug. 11-14. Twenty-three villagers are either missing or confirmed dead. (The Irrawaddy)
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
Leaders of protest groups in Sagaing Region have been providing seminars on the political goals of the revolution to rank and file PDF fighters. Topics include federalism, how democracy operates, and the rights of citizens and minorities, among others. While youth who join the PDFs generally have a strong sense that the goal of the fight is to overthrow the illegal military regime, not everyone has clear ideas about what happens politically when they eventually win the military conflict. The National Unity Government provides guidance in this respect. (People's Spring)
Today a PDF in Tantse township of Sagaing Region attacked junta troops at Kanpauk village, killing 6 of the troops.
Three allied PDFs attacked the junta’s administrative center in Palay township of Sagaing Region yesterday, using mortars, machine guns, and small arms; results aren’t known yet. They also attacked a junta/Pyu Saw Htee camp at Impintee village of Palay township the same day using mortars, causing at least 5 injuries. (Khit Thit Media) In nearby Gangaw township of Magway Region, three other PDFs shot up the junta police barracks in Minywa on Aug. 14 as part of their training exercise. (Myaelatt Athan)
When junta troops stopped and boarded a passenger bus crossing a bridge of the Irrawaddy River in Sagaing Region this morning, a gunfight broke out between 2 PDF members on the bus and the troops. The PDFs were killed and 2 troops were killed, or sent to the hospital with gunshot wounds (reports differ). One other passenger was injured. (Mizzima) A pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee leader was shot while sitting in a tea shop in Kantbalu township this morning, and was taken to hospital; his condition isn’t known. (People's Spring)
In Magway Region, a couple who were local junta administrators in Pauk township were assassinated by a PDF yesterday.
Urban warfare------------------
In Yangon, the residence of a junta general and former regime vice president, Tin Aung Myint Oo, was targeted by 2 bombs last night in Myangone township. A local junta admin office in that township was also bombed, as was a junta electric company office in South Okalappa township. Explosions also took place yesterday in Insein and Hlaing townships. Increased attacks on junta offices and personnel in Yangon have resulted in more sandbag bunker guard posts set up as the junta entrenches against the urban guerrilla onslaught. In Mandalay, a shop selling junta crony company products, particularly beers, was blown up yesterday in the downtown area. In Naypyitaw, junta operatives posing as PDFs are threatening and extorting local shops via mobile phone, in an attempt to discredit the PDFs, but the SIM numbers making the calls have been traced back to junta personnel on the crony Mytel mobile network. (Khit Thit Media)
Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)-------------------
The regime’s foreign currency controls are now causing key services and industries to shut down. The inability to import fuel has led buses to stop running and factories to close, as well as slowing the internet and causing drop-outs. Trucks that transport goods, including those that conduct business with China, are also stopping for lack of fuel, leading to unsold products and the unavailability of other products. Long lines of customers wait at fuel stations and often have to leave without anything; the price of gasoline has tripled since the coup. Businesses have turned to diesel-powered generators since the electricity supply plummeted as a result of the coup, but now they can’t get fuel for the generators. (The Irrawaddy)
The UN’s special envoy for Burma, Noeleen Heyzer, arrived in Yangon yesterday for a round of inconsequential talking with the junta generals. She will not be allowed to talk to opposition leaders such as the elected head of state Aung San Suu Kyi, who is held captive in solitary confinement. The high-profile visit is thus mainly a photo-op. Norleen Heizer aroused widespread condemnation last year for advising “all parties” to “cease fighting” and to find a “negotiated solution”, implying that the junta and the popular resistance were equally responsible for the Feb. 2021 coup d'état, and that a solution was possible that allows the junta to maintain partial control.