Burma coup resistance notes November 25, 2023
Brotherhood Alliance consolidates control in N. Shan; regime takes increasingly desperate defensive measures; captured junta pilot held for war crimes; ethnic armies advance.
Northern Shan-------------------
Kokang forces arrested a defeated junta lieutenant colonel as he was trying to flee to China in Pansai city on Nov. 19. The Kokang are in control of three China border crossings where the Kokang flag flies facing the Chinese flag. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 11/20) The Kokang captured 2 more camps near Laukkai on Nov. 22 and the last one on Nov. 24, and are preparing the take-over of the city, which is the junta’s operations HQ for the Kokang region and is a border town. (Khit Thit Media 11/23)
After nearly a month-long siege, the Ta’ang army finally captured the key Mine Kyat junta base near the northern Shan capital of Lashio on Nov. 24. The junta made more than 100 airstrikes to try to protect the base. The Ta’ang captured an enormous load of weapons. (People's Spring 11/24)
The Ta’ang captured 4 junta camps on Nov. 19 in Naung Cho Township with more than 100 weapons and a lot of ammunition. (People's Spring 11/20) The junta had been trying to re-invade northern Shan State through Naung Cho, but these defeats mean the effort is failing and the Brotherhood Alliance is consolidating its control there.
A junta general, Tin Aung Moe, was killed in fighting at 105 Mile near Muse on the China border on Nov. 19 by Ta’ang forces. (The IrrawaddyB 11/20)
Ta’ang forces are reporting the use of chemical weapons by the junta in Namkan. While the chemical agents aren’t identified, the Ta’ang army says three bombs landed that emitted fumes that sickened its troops and caused loss of consciousness. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 11/20) Other junta mortar fire has destroyed commercial trucks waiting at the China border crossing in Muse city. (Kachin News Group 11/23)
Over 217 junta positions have now been captured since Operation 10/27 began nearly a month ago, 164 by the Kokang alone, and the various ethnic armies and PDFs continue to seize more.
Kawthoolei------------------
Karen army Brigade 3 stormed the camp of junta infantry battalion 351 in Saw Ti Township (Shwejin), Kler Lwi Htoo District on Nov. 17. It took 10 minutes for the Karen to capture the camp and all its weapons. Junta casualties weren’t reported. The junta sent attack jets to bomb civilian villages and more troops tried to come, leading to another battle the following day. (Khit Thit Media 11/20)
Karen army, Karenni, and PDF forces have been fighting the junta in Yetashei Township near Taungoo for several days. On Nov. 19 a PDF source said more than 40 junta troops including two officers were killed, and 2 Revolution soldiers were killed and 3 wounded as well. Jets and helicopters came to bomb. (People's Spring 11/18)
A battle has also been ongoing 7 km east of Taungoo city on the Thandaung road in Taw Oo District. There are not yet clear results to report.
A Karen PDF killed 10 junta troops as they were getting drunk in a village in Tavoy Township on Nov. 19. The previous day the PDF attacked 40 junta troops camped in a monastery, but casualties aren’t known. (Khit Thit Media 11/20) Karen-led forces in Kyaikmaraw in Dooplaya District intercepted weapons that the junta dropped by air for its encircled troops there on Nov. 16. (Khit Thit Media 11/22)
KNU Dept. of Foreign Affairs spokesman Padoh Saw Tony says 10,741 junta troops have been killed during fighting in Kawthoolei since the coup and 7,779 others were wounded, for a total of 18,520 casualties. He said that if the junta continues to fight it can suffer even greater casualties. (KNU 11/18)
A political uproar has erupted in Beit-Tavoy District where ethnic Burman parliamentary representatives from the NLD Party approved an interim governance plan on Nov. 17 without consulting the mostly Karen civil and resistance groups who have been doing the fighting during the Revolution. These groups call the NLD’s plan an insult and completely unacceptable. (Tanintharyi Times 11/20) This dispute recalls the ethnic Burman chauvinism of the majority NLD Party prior to the 2021 coup. It may be a sign that the multi-ethnic coalition built since the coup to fight the junta could still be threatened by traditional Burman arrogance toward the ethnic minorities who have become very powerful during the Revolution. The Burmans are no longer in a position to impose anything on these powerful minorities, so a vote like this one is doomed to failure and the old NLD has some lessons to learn.
The junta fears Karen attacks in Myawaddy, so it has been sending troops there disguised in the uniforms of pro-junta but ethnically Karen BGF militia. (Mizzima 11/21)
Arakan------------------
The Arakan Army rescued over 100 civilian hostages taken by junta troops in Pauktaw town on Nov. 16 after 6 days in captivity. The AA has been counter-attacking junta troops who invaded Pauktaw after the AA destroyed the police barracks there on Nov. 14, and says it is close to defeating the remaining troops there. The AA also seized 2 junta supply boats on the Kalantan River in northern Arakan and southern Chin States. (Western News 11/22)
While junta military occupation still exists in parts of Arakan State, its administration has completely collapsed. Junta administrators have left or are in hiding, and banks have stopped operating. Even military operations are shrinking after the junta abandoned 40 camps it could no longer defend. The junta is still blockading roads and rivers leading into central and northern Arakan. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 11/23)
Karenni------------------
One of the two pilots of the junta jet shot down on Nov. 11 has been found and arrested. Villagers near Loikaw had questions about a stranger who showed up, and the pilot was identified. He is being held as for serious war crimes and atrocities. One other pilot is still at large. They ejected from the stricken jet and parachuted to the ground. (Mizzima 11/20)
Since Operation 11/11 was launched the Karenni forces have captured at least 20 junta positions, mostly around Mobye and Loikaw. Loikaw city is now about half liberated, with many junta troops still in several barracks and camps. Mobye is mostly liberated. (The IrrawaddyE 11/20) Junta troops fled a camp in eastern Loikaw Township on Nov. 16 after a 2-day attack by Karenni, Pa-O, and Shan forces, leaving a large number of weapons to be seized. (Khit Thit Media 11/21)
The Karenni State Consultative Council, an interim government structure, formally recommended that the Burmanized term “Kayah” be systematically replaced by the indigenous name “Karenni” when referring to the state and its people. (People's Spring 11/24)
Kachin-----------------
The junta evacuated 3 camps and a police barracks north of the state capital Myitgyina around Nov. 20 in Injanyang Township. It no longer has the strength to maintain them. The troops withdrew to Myitkyina city, capital of Kachin State, to prepare the city’s final defense. (Kachin News Group 11/21)
The Kachin army and allied PDFs have been battling junta remnants in Hommalin Township of northern Sagaing Region for several days, and on Nov. 23 they overcame and seized a junta camp there, capturing weapons. (Kachin News Group 11/23)
Chin-----------------
After the junta abandoned 2 camps in Kachin State, 268 junta troops also left Htoo Yin camp in Falam Township on Nov. 22 and went to other bases in Chin State. (Khit Thit Media 11/22) The Chin say they now control 75% of the state including all the highways between cities. The junta has to resupply by air. (People's Spring 11/24)
PDF Zoland soldiers overran a junta camp on Mount Kennedy in Chin State’s Titain Township on Nov. 21. Three of the junta troops died, 10 escaped, and 11 including the commander were captured along with many guns and mortars and ammunition. (People's Spring 11/21)
Likewise, Chin defense forces succeeded in occupying a junta camp at Lailenpi in Matupi Township after a 5-day battle on Nov. 24. It was the only junta presence in the area, so it is now liberated. (Khit Thit Media 11/24)
A total of 142 junta troops ran away to India on Nov. 4-15 when Chin defense forces attacked 3 camps in Falam Township, including the border town of Rikawdar which is now under Chin control. The Indian army returned all of them to the junta, showing that the Indian government is an enemy of the Myanmar and Chin people. (Mizzima 11/20)
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
PDFs attacked a junta camp in Mattaya Township 8 km north of Mandalay city on Nov. 19, killing 30 troops and 2 Pyu Saw Htee terrorists. Others were wounded. The survivors then torched a village and kidnapped civilian hostages. (Khit Thit Media 11/22)
Intense fighting is reported in the south of Kalay Township of western Sagaing Region, where PDFs occupied a junta camp on Nov. 23 after a 2-day battle. Troops have responded by burning Sekant and Tahan villages again and jets and helicopters have fired on communities. (Mizzima 11/23)
PDFs attacked a junta camp in Kani Township of northern Sagaing Region on Nov. 22, killing 20 troops and finally seizing the camp. The remaining troops ran away. Two PDF soldiers also died and 6 were wounded. Jets then dropped bombs on nearby civilian villages. (Khit Thit Media 11/23)
Also in Sagaing, PDFs in Wetlet Township occupied a police barracks in Shwe Pan Kone village on Nov. 21, capturing 11 police including the commander. Four more were captured the next day in the village, where they were hiding and planning to escape. Five were killed during the battle along with a PDF soldier. Retaliatory junta bombing damaged a monastery. (Myaelatt Athan 11/23)
The National Unity Government has invited striking Civil Disobedience Movement teachers and other government staff back to their jobs in liberated Kawlin, Sagaing Region. An interim local government is operating there. (Khit Thit Media 11/18) This is a preview of post-Revolution Myanmar.
PDFs attacked 4 junta positions in Tantse town on Nov. 22. All the troops in three of them fled to the central police barracks where they remain surrounded. (Mandalay Free Press 11/22)
A convoy of 100 junta troops, or whatever kind of people the junta can send nowadays, left Shwebo to reinforce positions in Wetlet Township in Sagaing Region on Nov. 20 when it was hit by PDF roadside bombs. The convoy stopped overnight and retreated the next day, when it was bombed again. It never reached Wetlet. (Myaelatt Athan 11/22)
All flights to Kalay were suspended Nov. 22 after a drone bomb struck the airport. Fighting is raging in Kalay Township. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 11/22) Airports are supposed to be protected from drones by jammers. Flights to Loikaw were suspended previously due to fighting close to the airport.
In a disturbing sign of discrimination within a Revolutionary group, the Myaing Revolutionary Guerrilla Force has prohibited its women from fighting, despite being trained for it and expecting to do it. The 70-member PDF has 20 women, and since it has a shortage of weapons and ammunition, leaders decided that the female members would pay the price, relegating them to support and medic duties only. Women have been leaving the group due to the discriminatory policy. (Myaelatt Athan 11/23) Part of the reason for the Revolution was to fight against traditional discrimination, ethnic and otherwise, so signs of it carrying over into the Revolution can be considered problematic. Women have done a great deal of fighting and leading since the coup.
Junta decline------------------
Karenni forces dominate Mobye town, 190 km east of the junta capital Naypyitaw, while the Karen army is attacking around Taungoo, 120 km south of it. The junta is trying to harden Naypyitaw against anticipated final assaults, but the people it is mobilizing now are civilian government staff and university students rather than soldiers. They stand little chance of repelling attacks by seasoned Revolution forces, and are more likely to surrender or run.
On Nov. 24, 17 junta troops fled the the Thanlyin navy HQ in Yangon, taking weapons with them. Four days earlier a navy sergeant did the same thing. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 11/24)
The junta issued orders for all of its camps to reinforce themselves against Revolution drone bombing, which has factored into many camp losses. It ordered camps to build covers over their trenches. The junta is increasingly in last-ditch defense mode. (Khit Thit Media 11/20)
Terrorism--------------------
The junta air force continues to bomb civilians relentlessly in response to its ground losses, and remaining junta camps are shooting mortars into communities. Citizens including children are being killed by shrapnel blasts in northern Shan, Karenni, Chin, and Kawthoolei. Over 60 civilians killed so far in Ta’ang, 70+ in Loikaw city. (People's Spring 11/21) A junta mortar shell fell directly on a small vehicle carrying refugees in Laukkai on Nov. 22, killing all 10 people on board.
Junta bombing at the China border crossing in Muse burned and destroyed more than 100 large commercial trucks that were transporting trade goods for export. (Myanmar Now 11/23)
Political and economic-------------------
The junta-owned Myanmar Economic Bank has suspended operations. There has been a rush of customers to withdraw cash from banks, leading to cash shortages. This is the bank that pays government salaries and pensions. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 11/18)
Small junta-organized rallies in cities still under regime control have denounced China and blamed it for supporting Operation 10/27 which is devastating the remnants of the illegal regime. (The IrrawaddyE 11/20) China is now hated by both sides of the conflict.
Thailand Air Force Commander Punpakdee Pattanakul supported the illegal Naypyitaw regime with a visit to dictator Min Aung Hlaing on Nov. 22. (Mizzima 11/24)
An unpublicized but leaked internal directive from dictator Min Aung Hlaing commands all ministries to collect taxes – not just the bureau of revenue. Other ministries have no infrastructure or procedures for taxing the public. (Khit Thit Media 11/25) It is a measure of how financially desperate the regime is becoming.
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