Burma coup resistance notes November 18, 2022
People's Defense Forces battle the scourge of junta village terrorism campaign; tiny ethnic Kokang army stuns regime forces; prisoner release an empty stunt.
Ethnic regions-------------------
The Kokang ethnic army (MNDAA) was attacked by 70 junta troops on Nov. 16 at Nampaung near Lashio in northern Shan State. The Kokang fired back with mortars and small arms, killing 16 junta troops and wounding 15. (Ayeyarwaddy Times) 150 Kokang soldiers then gathered around the junta camp and fired again, killing a sentry and burning down a dormitory. (Khit Thit Media)
A PDF entered a junta base in Myeik township of Beit-Tavoy District of Kawthoolei (Tanintharyi Region on Burmese maps) yesterday and opened fire, killing about 10 troops but also losing 2 PDF soldiers killed. In Pa-an District (Hpa-an township on Burmese maps), junta-proxy BGF thugs fired artillery and rifles into the civilian village of MiKaren on the west bank of the Salween River yesterday, killing 2 adults and a 7-year-old girl and seriously wounding an old woman. (Karen Information Center)
Junta scorched earth village terrorism campaign---------------
A column of 70 junta troops marched out of Khin Oo town to attack Nyaungpinchan, Seji, Mayan In, and Kone Tha village yesterday, burning them as they went. Then in the early afternoon a local PDF opened fire on them, killing about 10 troops.
A similar scenario played out in Kyauktu, Magway Region on Nov. 16, as a PDF coalition counter-attacked a junta village terrorism column and killed at least 10 troops. (Khit Thit Media)
Talai village in Sagaing township is being torched and destroyed by a junta terror attack today, and tens of thousands of people are fleeing from 20 villages in this area, after Myauk village was similarly destroyed yesterday and Jaungphyu and Tangyi villages before that. Troops are looting houses before burning them, and shooting indiscriminately. Some hostages have been taken.
This is dire for the communities because their sesame crop needs to be harvested now, and if it isn’t, the farm families will lose their entire season, along with their homes, food, livestock, vehicles, and everything else. (Khit Thit Media)
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
PDFs blew up a column of pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee terrorists yesterday in Chaung Oo, Sagaing Region, resulting in 5 of them killed.
Junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee thugs were bombed twice yesterday in Monywa township of Sagaing Region, once in Monywa city and once as they were leaving the Pyu Saw Htee camp of Tawpu. Casualties aren’t known. (Mizzima)
A convoy of 3 trucks and 20 junta troops left Pakokku to deliver medical supplies to wounded troops and Pyu Saw Htee terrorists in Kyaunggan village this morning, and were hit by 8 roadside bombs, destroying one of the trucks. The PDF says 20 troops were killed and 7 wounded. The other 2 trucks continued toward Kyaunggan. (Myaelatt Athan)
Two gunwomen on a motorcycle assassinated a 55-year-old military veteran in Pakokku town today. Veterans are often dalans (regime spies), but this man had a good reputation in the community, so the motive for the assassination isn’t clear. (Myaelatt Athan) A junta administrator was assassinated in Yoji village of Pakokku township today. (Khit Thit Media)
Urban warfare------------------
In Yangon, bombs exploded yesterday at a police checkpoing on Airport Road, a junta crony car company in Insein township, and in North Dagon township. The checkpoint had been used to stop, harass, and extort money from drivers; it was dismantled today following the explosion. (Than Lwin Khet News)
A PDF has formed in Yangon to try to control the rampant crime that endangers citizens traveling around the city. The junta police are preoccupied with maintaining the regime in power in the cities, thus they have abandoned law enforcement and in fact are part of the crime wave. The new group, calling itself Fright The Thieves, aims to fill part of that gap and protect citizens from pickpockets, muggers, and other street criminals. (Mizzima) FTT will likely be pursued like other urban armed groups as a threat to the regime, so members must be discreet.
An urban PDF leader is urging his colleagues in other Revolutionary cells in cities to observe the “security line”, maintaining anonymity among cell members to avoid chain arrests, and choosing secure locations for the safe houses. He or she cited recent incidents where junta troops caught one urban fighter and tortured the identities of others out of them, leading to the deaths of several. (Than Lwin Khet News)
Political and economic-------------------
The junta only released 1,000 prisoners yesterday, and only 15 of them were among the 13,000 political prisoners kidnapped since the coup. (The Irrawaddy) Thus, the much-hyped prisoner release was nothing more than a hollow publicity stunt.
- စီၤ ထံဆၢ