Burma coup resistance notes June 8, 2024
The flailing junta goes on a civilian extermination binge; Arakan close in on Maundaw & Thandwe; ethnic homeland governmemnts open hundreds of schools in liberated areas.
Arakan-------------------
The Arakan Army is closing in on Thandwe, a township capital in the south of the state. Fighting has reached villages only 3 kilometers away. The junta has closed the airport to civilian flights and is using it for military resupply and reinforcement. This is the home of one of Burma’s best known tourist resorts, Ngapali Beach. (Mizzima 6/7)
The AA also seized 6 more junta camps in northernmost Maungdaw Township during the first week of June. At least 500 junta troops were killed and weapons were seized. Maungdaw is the last junta holdout in the northern end of the state. (Khit Thit Media 6/8)
The junta shipped 90 political prisoners from Sittwe to Yangon, in another sign of its anticipation of the AA’s inexorable advance. (Burma News International 6/8)
Kawthoolei-------------------
In the ongoing saga of the junta’s Aung Zeya armored convoy trying to reach Myawaddy, about 100 troops separated from the main body and infiltrated via a forest road as far as the Myawaddy welcome sign on the east side. A pitched battle occurred the afternoon of June 2, during which a junta commander and 15 troops were killed and the Karen captured some weapons. (Mizzima 6/2)
The main body of the convoy is still stopped and being gradually diminished by Karen forces in the rugged Dawna Range east of Kaw T’Ree town. Over 400 of the column’s 1200 original troops are known to have been killed, and soldiers defecting to the Karen say the losses continue. They say the onset of rainy season makes it impossible that the convoy will reach its goal. (The Irrawaddy B 6/6)
Mon State-----------------
Soldiers of the Mon State Revolutionary Front in Ye Township have a reduced level of activity due to high rates of malaria during this first month of the monsoon season. (Tanintharyi Times 6/7)
Also in Ye Township, a junta battalion commander was caught by resistance forces on June 5 with his weapons while he was out procuring food for his troops. (The Irrawaddy B 6/7)
Northern Shan-------------------
The new administration in the Ta’ang liberated homeland has canceled all business licenses and permits issued by the Naypyitaw junta, and is requiring that private enterprises apply for new Ta’ang licenses. This is especially significant in the cases of large mineral mines. (Mizzima 6/1)
The Kachin government (KIA) is building civilian administration in northwestern townships of Shan State, to accompany its new military brigade securing that area.
There has been tension between Kachin and Ta’ang ethnic armies over control of some liberated towns and metal mines in northwestern Shan State. The Ta’ang army has asked an alliance of northern ethnic armies to mediate. (Kachin News Group 6/6)
The junta has shipped reinforcements into Thibaw town and has shelled surrounding communities. The Ta’ang army says the ceasefire brokered through Chinese interference in January is at the point of breaking down because of the junta’s aggression in violation of the agreement. (Mekong News 6/6) The junta lost an enormous amount of territory, troops, and weapons during Operation 10/27 in northern Shan State between October and January, and that fighting could resume.
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
PDFs in Pakokku Township of Magway Region drone-bombed a junta convoy of 13 trucks full of soldiers for 2 days, June 3-4, destroying 2 trucks and killing 10 troops including a platoon commander. Others were wounded, and the convoy retreated. The column then shelled a nearby civilian village, killing 4 villagers, children among them, and injuring more than 20. (Khit Thit Media 6/6)
A video shows 13 dead junta troops being loaded onto a truck in Myinchan Township of Mandalay Region after a battle with PDFs on June 4. Five more were wounded. The PDFs counter-attacked the troops during a terrorist raid on civilian villages. (People’s Spring 6/6)
More than 100 PDF soldiers and Urban Guerrillas were equipped with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades in a training graduation ceremony in Myaing Township of Magway Region on May 29. (Myaelatt Athan 6/4) The supplier of the weapons isn’t named, but in these cases it is generally the National Unity Government’s Ministry of Defense. Since activating the forced conscription campaign in February, the junta has abducted and trained several thousand youths as soldiers, but a greater number have escaped and joined resistance groups all over the country. This class was an example.
Urban warfare------------------
A junta admin office in Insein Township of Yangon was attacked on June 1 due to its roll in the kidnapping of young men for army training. (People's Spring 6/1) The next day bombs exploded at junta police stations in North Okalappa and Mingaladon Townships of northern Yangon. (Khit Thit Media 6/3)
Junta decline------------------
Numerous junta operatives defected to the resistance forces this week. These included one in Tenasserim Township of Kawthoolei’s Beit-Tavoy District, a junta soldier and 5 Pyu Saw Htees in Minkin Township of Sagaing Region, and 3 police in Falam, Chin State. (People's Spring, Khit Thit Media 6/2)
During the 6 months from October 2023 to May 2024, 4 of the junta’s 6 division commanders were killed and 1 was jailed. These are the senior-most officers involved in the civil war.
As mentioned previously, the junta is trying to force schools to open in Kaw T’Ree and Loikaw towns (in Kawthoolei and Karenni, respectively). Large last-ditch junta offensives have retaken parts of these towns, and opening schools is a propaganda strategy to create the appearance of regained control. In fact most of the schools are unable to open, either because they were bombed by the junta, or teachers and staff have no place to live since their homes were destroyed in junta bombing, or because there are no students. (Karen Information Center 6/4)
Terrorism--------------------
In the small patch of territory still controlled by the junta around the Arakan capital Sittwe, 170 troops took 1,500 villagers hostage in a village called Byaing Phyu starting on May 29, then massacred 76 of them and raped women. Those not killed were tied up and left in the tropical sun without food or water as a form of torture. Younger men were kidnapped for forced military service. An Arakan collaborationist party, the ALP, participated in the atrocity. The junta also used coerced Rohingya men to carry out the massacre as a means of fomenting racial division. The Arakan Army and the National Unity Government have both vowed retaliation for the massacre and torture. (Myanmar Now 6/1, Tanintharyi Times 6/3, The Irrawaddy 6/4)
The junta perpetrated another civilian massacre in a village of Minkin Township of Sagaing Region, where jets dropped two 500 pound bombs on a wedding on June 3, splattering body parts and killing at least 50 people, including the groom, and injuring more than 30. Then junta troops fired mortars to prevent assistance to the wounded, further exacerbating the death toll, in a deliberate act of terrorism. (DVB E 6/7)
Another airstrike targeted a crowded market in Ponnajun Township of Arakan State on June 3. At least 2 people died and 11 or more were injured. (DVB E 6/3)
Jets bombed a public hospital in Shweku Township of Kachin State on June 2, injuring some patients and killing an 8-year-old child. (KachinNet 6/2) Again, attacking hospitals is an internationally-recognized war crime.
Troops also killed at least 10 civilians and torched homes in 2 villages of K’Ser Doh Township (Thayetchaung) in Kawthoolei’s Beit-Tavoy District. Some of the charred bodies could not be identified. (Tanintharyi Times 6/2)
Junta troops went on a second arson binge in Tedim town of Chin State on June 1, in the wake of a May 29 Chin assault that captured part of the town. (Khit Thit Media 6/3)
An explosion in a school in Tavoy city (Dawei) on June 4 killed a child and wounded almost 20 others. It was caused by an unexploded junta shell that a student apparently picked up and brought into a classroom.
The junta is threatening residents of Sisaing Township, which it has thoroughly destroyed through airstrikes and shelling, that if they don’t return to their ruined homes, the junta will burn them (again). If they do return, they will be forcefully recruited into the junta army. Thus far, the threat has not persuaded many people to return, but among those who have, some have lost limbs by stepping on junta landmines. (Kantarawaddy Times 6/7)
As the junta loses the war militarily, its brutality against civilians increases proportionally.
Political and economic-------------------
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued another vapid and mealy-mouthed statement on June 6, saying he is “deeply concerned” about the increase in violence in Burma. He called on “all those involved” to “prioritize the protection of civilians.” (Khin Thor Media 6/7) By not naming the junta, Guterres gives the false impression that that the civil war is the equal fault of the genocidal regime and the pro-democracy resistance. The blandness of the statement indicates that the UN is nowhere near providing any form of enforcement for the protection of civilians. In fact UN agencies in Burma continue to work hand-in-glove with the illegal regime, with which they have signed memoranda of understanding.
National Unity Government (NUG) Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials met with their counterparts in Australia and the USA this week in Canberra and Washington DC, where those governments discussed ways to support Burma’s pro-democracy movement. (Khin Thit Media 6/6)
The NUG’s mostly on-line Spring Development Bank will begin making loans to clients, starting with half a million dollars from depositors. The Chin and Karenni interim governments also provide lending services to their citizens. These are alternatives to the formal sector banks that are junta-controlled. (The Irrawaddy B 6/7)
As the rice growing season gets underway, there is a shortage of workers because the junta’s forced recruitment has kidnapped some, while others have gone into hiding or joined the resistance forces. The worker shortage has previously affected other industries, but this one involves the country’s food supply. (Than Leon Kurt News 6/7)
Ethnic homeland governments are vastly expanding their educational networks due to the increased territories and populations under their governance since the 2021 attempted coup. The Kachin government is opening 488 schools. (Kachin News Group 6/7) The liberation government of Karenni State opened 400 primary schools across the state. Most of them serve internal refugee children and are built of temporary materials like bamboo and tarps. Administrators added bomb shelter trenches due to the junta’s habit of bombing schools. (Burma News International 5/31) The Kawthoolei government (KNU) has seen a tripling of school enrollment since the coup as both Karen and non-Karen parents seek an alternative to the dysfunctional junta schools. Almost all schools have been transferred from Burmese to Kawthoolei administration.
The junta has banned the use of virtual private networks (VPNs), the apps that mask an internet user’s location and identity in order to gain access to platforms that the junta has banned, like Facebook, the most popular social media platform in Burma. Instead, the junta wants people using Myspace, a platform with much weaker security for user personal details. China, the world’s foremost expert in surveillance and information control, is assisting the junta. (Than Lwin Khet News 6/4)
As the national currency, the Myanmar kyat, continues to plunge in value and people seek to convert their kyats to U.S. dollars and gold, the prices of those alternatives has shot up. This week the junta jailed gold dealers for supposedly undermining the junta’s “central bank” by selling gold at the higher market rates. As in previous instances of the use of force to coerce markets, other dealers have responded by shutting their doors and ceasing trading. The junta then ordered them to reopen and sell gold at a fixed price. (Khit Thit Media 6/5)
-စီၤ ထံဆၢ
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