Burma coup resistance notes May 27, 2023
Burma coup resistance notes May 27, 2023
Heavy junta losses in Karenni, Mon, Sagaing; ABDSF comes out fighting; junta weaponizes cyclone emergency aid, and UN plays along.
Ethnic regions-------------------
After junta troops invaded villages of eastern Demawso Township on May 14, Karenni defense forces fought back during a 10-day battle. About 42 junta troops were killed including and officer, and eight Karenni soldiers died, also including an officer; 5 of them were killed during a night jet bombing on May 24. The Karenni captured two junta soldiers alive along with a large number of weapons and some ammunition. The junta then bombed a civilian refugee camp near Mobye with jet fighters. (Khit Thit Media 5/25)
A big 2-day battle in Ye Township of Mon State pitted the White Tiger PDF and Karen forces against an advancing junta column of 250 troops. On May 19, 19 junta troops were killed as they invaded Waba Sien village. They retreated the next morning, but their path was blocked by resistance forces again and this time 11 more troops were killed. A PDF soldier was also wounded. (Khit Thit Media 5/23)
The Karen army attacked a junta-proxy BGF camp at Ka Teh Ti in Mutraw District on May 20, killing 5 including the camp commander. (Mutraw News 5/24) In Beit-Tavoy District, Karen PDFs have carried out a series of attacks on junta troops around Tavoy town and the Special Economic Zone, using roadside bombs and 81mm mortars; at least 10 are known to have been killed, but results from some of the clashes aren’t known. (Khit Thit Media 5/25)
Junta scorched earth village terrorism campaign---------------
The latest tactic in the junta’s war on civilians is the destruction of roads to disrupt movement of people and goods, a variation on its weaponizing of hunger. In Kawthoolei Doo Tha Htoo and Dooplaya Districts, the junta has used excavators to dig trenches across roads that connect villages to towns. These are not roads used by the Karen army, so the purpose is only to disrupt civilian life. It is resulting in shortages of food and other goods in villages because vehicles cannot get through. (Than Lwin Times 5/26)
About 150 junta troops invaded and destroyed 8 villages in Sinku Township of Mandalay Region on May 25, and killed 17 civilians, another massacre. Local PDFs are resisting and attacking the terrorists. (Myaelatt Athan 5/26)
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
PDFs raided the junta police barracks at Sahtaung in Sagaing Township on May 21, killing 12 troops including an officer and wounding others. Only the arrival of junta jets prevented the capture of the barracks. (Myaelatt Athan 5/22)
At the same time and in the same township, a PDF coalition faced off against a column of 100 junta troops at Padu during a five-hour battle. They say nearly 20 troops were killed, while 3 PDF soldiers were wounded, one seriously. The troops conducted a terrorist attack on Padu village, killing a woman and injuring 4 other civilians. (Myaelatt Athan 5/22)
The PDFs then attacked the junta police barracks in Padu, invading and burning it before being driven off by multiple helicopters firing on them. At least 10 troops and a policeman were killed. (People's Spring 5/22, The Irrawaddy 5/24)
The All-Burma Student Democratic Front and PDFs army fought junta troops in Indaw and Banmauk Townships of northern Sagaing Region on May 22-23, killing 20 from the junta. The regime responded with air strikes that destroyed a monastery. (The Irrawaddy 5/25) The 100 troops now occupying Nanttha village of Indaw Township have been sexually assaulting the women there, according to a villager. (Kachin News Group 5/25) The ABSDF also captured a police outpost in Momeik, northern Shan State on May 24, killing 4 junta police who were extorting local businesses, and capturing weapons. (People's Spring 5/25) The ABSDF also killed 3 junta police and wounded 8 in an assault on a barracks in Gangaw Township of Magway Region on May 25. (People's Spring 5/26)
Two PDF soldiers were captured by junta troops during a clash in Yesagyo Township of Magway Region on May 24; one of them escaped, but the other had a bullet wound in the thigh and was taken away by the junta troops. Numerically superior PDF soldiers then tried to rescue him, attacking the junta column and killing 10 troops, but were unable to save their comrade. He was tortured with stabbing and salt rubbed in his wounds, according to the Black Tiger PDF. (Myaelatt Athan 5/25)
Junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee from the Bantbwe camp in Yinmapin Township, Sagaing Region, were attacked with multiple roadside bombs on May 25, killing at least 15 of them. (Khit Thit Media 5/25) These are the terrorists who loot and burn villages.
Urban warfare------------------
Tint Win, an organizer of pro-junta propaganda rallies and a supporter of the ultra-nationalist MaBaTha pseudo-Buddhist fascist organization, was assassinated in Yangon’s North Dagon Township on May 26. (People's Spring 5/26) The repeated assassinations of high-profile regime figures has led many of its members to retreat within fortified perimeters.
Political and economic-------------------
In cyclone-ravaged Arakan State, the junta kidnapped five charity volunteers on May 23 who were helping to distribute emergency food and other supplies to people in Ponnajun Township. (The Irrawaddy 5/24) The junta is still holding back permission for UN emergency aid to be distributed. The UN still insists on collaborating with the remnants of the military regime rather than with Myanmar civil society. Meanwhile, the USA, Britain, and certain other emergency donors are going ahead with aid distribution through local and cross-border organizations not controlled by the illegal regime.
Even though storm victims have no food and no place to sleep, the junta is ordering schools to re-open and classes to continue in the parts of Arakan State that it still controls. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 5/24)
The junta staged a publicity event on May 23 where it pretended to distribute food and shelter materials to people left homeless by Cyclone Mocha in Ponnajun Township of Arakan State. In reality, the offerings were so paltry that most people left without taking any. One bag of rice (40 kg) was allotted for 100 people; a negligible amount. Amounts of cooking oil, zinc roofing, and mosquito nets were likewise piddling compared to the need, “like it was designed to cause fights between people.” Meanwhile, the Arakan Army is operating a much more substantial relief operation in Rathedaung Township. (DVB 5/26)
Twenty-two Indian companies have sold US$51 million worth of weapons and military raw materials to the illegal military regime in Naypyitaw since the Feb. 2021 coup d'état, according to a UN report. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 5/26) After Russia and China, India is the regime’s biggest arms supplier.
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