Burma coup resistance notes March 25, 2023
Karenni, Sagaing, & Chin forces push back junta offensive with heavy losses; missile attack on air base; coup-induced hardship comes to military capital Naypyitaw.
Karenni defense forces wiped out an entire junta battalion of at least 60 troops [Update: 90 killed 50 wounded according to KNDF]on the Demawso/Pekhon township boundary, killing 6 officers and capturing dozens of rifles, hundreds of mortar and grenade rounds, computers, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and other equipment. The battle lasted March 21-24 after junta Battalion 515, 2nd Division, marched toward Dawtamaji village. Some fighting still continues. (Ayeyarwaddy Times)
An urban guerrilla group managed to fire eight 107mm missiles at a helicopter hangar at Hmawbi air base in northern Yangon Region. The group says it received exact coordinates from a watermelon (inside) source. Damage hasn’t been ascertained. The report contained photos of the eight large projectiles, of the same type used in previous air base attacks. (Khit Thit Media 3/21)
Ethnic regions-------------------
Analyst Aung Zaw writes that after Chinese meddling with northern ethnic armies, the junta pulled 30 battalions, around 2,000 troops, out of the north and sent them to the current offensives in Chin, Karenni, and Sagaing. (The Irrawaddy 3/25/23) Hundreds of those troops have died in Karenni, and the Chin defense forces are currently attacking three convoys snaking their way along Chin State’s mountainous roads. PDFs in Myaung township of Sagaing Region also recently killed over 30 troops.
In Chin State, a column of 80 foot soldiers and 35 vehicles trying to get from Matupi to Paletwa was attacked twice by Chin forces on March 21 & 22, killing 12 troops the first time and 6 the second, and wounding an unknown number. Helicopters then came and delivered 30 more troops and removed the wounded, but the convoy had to stop due to the resistance. Likewise in Mindat township a convoy of 85 trucks was attacked by Chin defense forces on March 18, damaging some vehicles and making 35 of the trucks turn back. (The Irrawaddy 3/20, 3/24) A convoy of 30 truck that left Kalay on March 9 took 10 days to get there, normally a 5-hour drive, due to Chin attacks which reduced its strength along the way. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 3/21)
In Kachin State, the Kachin army attacked junta troops in Puta-O township on March 18, killing 13 of them and capturing weapons and ammunition. The same day in Hpakant town, junta troops ransacked and destroyed a women’s vocational training center; mortar fire killed 6 civilians. (The 74 Media 3/19) The Kachin army and allied PDFs also attacked a convoy of 300 troops going from Kathah to Indaw and back in Sagaing Region March 20-21, killing 10 troops. (Kachin News Group 3/22)
In Karenni State, in addition to annihilating a junta battalion described above, Karenni defense forces attacked the enemy elsewhere in Demawso and Bawlakhe townships, killing 8 troops. (People's Spring 3/19, Chindwin News Agency 3/20)
In Kawthoolei, the Karen army and allied PDFs captured a camp of the pro-junta BGF militia in Doo Tha Htoo District (Bilin township on Burmese maps) on March 22, seizing five weapons and some ammunition. It also carried out drone bombing of a junta command center in Kyaikto township, and ambushed a convoy in Thaton township killing 7 junta troops and wounding 6 on March 20. (Than Lwin Times 3/21, Mizzima 3/21, People's Spring 3/25)
In Taw Oo District (Thandaunggyi township on Burmese maps), Karen army Brigade 2 attacked junta troops at Mile 16 of the Thandaunggyi road on March 15, killing 10 troops and wounding 8. In Kler Lwi Htoo District (Shwejin township on Burmese maps), Karen army Brigade 3 killed 7 junta troops during a battle March 20-22. (People's Spring 3/18, 3/23)
The Karen army Brigade 5 in Mutraw District (Hpapun township on Burmese maps) announced its combat statistics for the first half of March: It fought 72 clashes with the junta in 15 days, killed 31 junta troops, wounded 21 including 2 officers, and destroyed 3 vehicles; one Karen soldier was wounded.
In Beit-Tavoy District (Tanintharyi Region on Burmese maps) the Karen army and PDFs in Palaw township fought junta troops and killed 13 of them on March 21. (The Irrawaddy 3/24) In Dooplaya District (Kyainseikgyi township on Burmese maps) Karen army Brigade 6 attacked a junta convoy of 80 troops coming to and returning from Kwi La Dter camp on the Thai border March 16 & 21, killing 10 of them including the deputy commander, and capturing 4 weapons. Two helicopters came and shot machine guns. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 3/24)
Three ethnic militias in Shan State are officially lackeys of the illegal Naypyitaw regime. After Chinese meddling earlier this month, the SSPP, UWSA, and NDAA are in discussions with the generals to stage the fake election in their control areas. This comes a week after seven northern ethnic armies signed a letter welcoming China’s support for the junta, although the Ta’ang, Kokang, and Kachin are in fact active enemies of the junta. (The Irrawaddy 3/24/23)
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
In Sagaing Region, a coalition of 29 PDFs led by CDSOM attacked and decimated the notorious junta ‘monster column’ of 200 troops that had been massacring, raping, and beheading people in and around Myaung township. Nineteen terrorist troops were killed on March 21, including senior officers, after 23 were killed in ambushes on March 15-16. (The Irrawaddy 3/24/23) The NUG is coordinating PDFs like an army to seriously fight back against the junta’s village terror campaign.
In Magway Region, PDFs likewise inflicted heavy casualties on the junta during repeated attacks on a convoy and its advance guard in Shwegondaing, Htilin township March 15-18, killing 51 troops. One PDF soldier was killed and one wounded. (The Irrawaddy 3/20) In Myaing township, a PDF demonstrated a fixed-wing bombing drone (small plane) that it has developed. (Khit Thit Media 3/20)
In Sagaing Region, PDFs attacked and captured a police barracks in Tamu township at Bukkan on March 24. The PDFs captured weapons. (Khit Thit Media 3/24)
As dictator Min Aung Hlaing was visiting Monywa on March 19, PDFs fired locally-manufactured mortars into the town, showing that the coup plotters are not safe from the resistance. (Khit Thit Media 3/20) In Shwebo township of Sagaing Region on March 18, a convoy of Pyu Saw Htee terrorists returning from training with the junta was attacked with roadside bombs by local PDFs, killing 9 of them. (Khit Thit Media 3/19)
In Bago Region, PDFs attacked junta troops in Yetashei township and killed 10 of them on March 23. (Than Lwin Times 3/24)
The civil war is reaching into the junta capital Naypyitaw. PDFs fired mortars into a military camp in Aungnancho village in Naypyitaw Region on March 13, damaging the barracks. (People's Spring 3/18) Also, the severe power cuts that have affected the rest of the country will finally be coming to Naypyitaw as well; the regime cannot even keep the lights on in its own privileged enclave. (Khit Thit Media 3/22)
In Thanlyin township of Yangon, the Urban Owls Guerrilla Force shot and killed a major junta business crony, U Min Tay Za Nyun Tin, who arranged transfers of millions of dollars abroad for the purchase of military hardware. A significant cut of the money went to the pockets of junta crony intermediaries. (Mizzima 3/24)
The junta’s dire manpower crisis is leading to more desperate attempts at forced recruitment. The latest is fake job advertisements. In the economic post-coup wreckage, youth urgently needing employment respond to the ads and are called for interviews, where they are threatened to make them sign up for the illegal regime’s army. (Khit Thit Media 3/20)
In numerous smaller actions, PDFs and ethnic armies killed over 65 junta troops during the past week. Usually there is a number of wounded equal to half or more of the fatalities, so the casualties, or troops removed from the fight from these smaller actions would be about 100, added to the larger losses from the other clashes described here. In this war of attrition, the junta’s control is already shrinking; the question is how fast its loss of manpower shrinks it further and eventually leads to collapse. The Revolution forces need to stay strong and be persistent, and they will win.
Junta scorched earth village terrorism campaign---------------
While the junta continues to destroy communities in central Burma, the news items above show that they no longer do so with impunity, as the PDFs are now capable of striking back.
In Launglone township of Beit-Tavoy District, Kawthoolei (Tanintharyi Region on Burmese maps), the resistance has been strong, with daily protest marches and the elimination of junta agents such as illegitimately-appointed administrators, Pyu Saw Htee terrorist leaders, dalans (regime spies), and Thway Thauk (blood drinker) death squad members. In February, however, Launglone was one of the townships where the junta declared martial law and stepped up its terrorist activities. Villages are being burned and civilians are getting kidnapped and killed.
Political and economic-------------------
The National Unity Government is threatening to sue the Thai oil company PTT in a Singapore court for human rights violations if it doesn’t stop funding atrocities in Myanmar through its purchase of oil and gas from the junta-owned MOGE company. (People's Spring 3/20) When the other foreign partners in that project pulled out, PTT bought their shares and kept the junta’s revenues flowing. The PTT has been the object of protests across Burma lately for its role in financing the terrorism.
The USA announced sanctions against 6 companies involved in the supply of aviation fuel to Burma’s terrorist regime for air strikes on civilians. Two regime crony individuals are also sanctioned. (People's Spring)
Somewhere in Sagaing Region, a resistance-run school received donated computers from a local charity; more are on the way.
-စီၤ ထံဆၢ
Thank you for your excellent reporting!