Burma coup resistance notes October 6, 2022
Regime jets bomb Buddhist monastery harboring refugees in reprisal for a Karen army victory; more roads cut to cause mass hunger; international community still sends nothing but 'thoughts & prayers.'
The junta has blocked roads in Khin Oo township of Sagaing Region since Sept. 30, causing food to run out. It also stole over 60 motorcycles from the stranded travelers, and is demanding a ransom of 200,000 kyats to get each one back. Besides food, fuel and money are also now in short supply in Khin Oo. The illegal regime is broadening its starvation strategy in the shrinking areas it controls. (Khit Thit Media)
Ethnic regions-------------------
Junta jets bombed a Buddhist monastery last night in Makkathah ward of Payathonsu town, Kawthoolei (Karen nation) Dooplaya District (Kyainseikgyi township on Burmese maps). Photos show devastation at the monastery where refugees had been sheltering from junta violence, but everyone had moved to the bomb shelter trenches before the attack, so casualties are minimal or none. (Karen Information Center, Khit Thit Media, Kawthoolei Today) Near this Thai border town the Karen army captured a junta camp at Payataung on Sept. 28. As usual, the junta is following up a battlefield defeat with airstrikes.
The Karen army fired mortars and drone bombs yesterday at a junta police barracks at Kinmonchaung in Kawthoolei Doo Tha Htoo District (Kyaikto township on Burmese maps), causing explosions inside the barracks. Casualties aren’t known yet. This was at least the 3rd attack on this barracks. (Than Lwin Times)
In Mon State, a local junta administrator was assassinated in Ye town this morning, and a pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee terrorist leader was killed by a local PDF yesterday at a tea shop in Mawlamyaing city. (Than Lwin Times, Khit Thit Media) While Mon State was slow to join the Spring Revolution due to the junta-collaborationist stance of its traditional ethnic representation, the New Mon State Party, in recent months PDF groups have turned southern Mon State into a resistance hotspot.
The Arakan Army reports that recent junta violence has displaced an additional 20,000 people, so that there are now 80,000 internal refugees in the area. Among these are 2,100 newborn babies, thousands of pregnant women, and more than 10,000 students. The junta’s blockade of roads is causing hunger among the population especially the refugees. (People's Spring)
Junta scorched earth village terrorism campaign---------------
Troops have burned more than 20 people to death in Wetlet township of Sagaing Region during recent terror attacks on 7 civilian villages, according to a local PDF. Of the 20+ charred remains found, only 3 have been identified so far.
After the junta destroyed the Monywa-Amyint road two days ago Oct. 4 in order to cause hardship to the population, the local PDF repaired it overnight, but yesterday the junta sabotaged it again, worse than the first time. The road has been extensively used by refugees fleeing junta terror attacks on villages, so the troops want to prevent the villagers escaping.
About 40 troops and Pyu Saw Htee thugs attacked Shwe Pon village near Thapansayt Dam on the edge of Kantbalu and Kyunhla townships on Oct. 4, where they were intercepted by PDF forces. In the ensuing battle, 16 troops were killed including an officer, and about 20 more were wounded.
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
In Sagaing Region, a local PDF in Kathah township counter-attacked 200 junta troops who were assaulting a civilian village yesterday in Myalan with roadside bombs; casualties aren’t reported. A PDF alliance blew up a junta convoy on the Monywa-Ayadaw road with 4 roadside bombs on Oct. 3, killing 5 troops. (Khit Thit Media)
In Mandalay Region, a PDF coalition attacked junta troops guarding a cement factory yesterday that is a joint venture between the junta and a Chinese company. No news on damage or casualties is reported yet. (Khit Thit Media)
Urban warfare------------------
In Yangon, an urban PDF assassinated a dalan and blew up a shop belonging to a junta supporter that doubles as a fuel smuggling entrepôt in South Okalappa township yesterday, and another group bombed a local junta admin office in Shwepyitha township twice, sending some people to the hospital with injuries.
Videos increasingly reveal the growing violent crime wave in Burma, caused by the junta’s refusal or failure to maintain public order other than cracking down on pro-democracy activists. The videos show criminals beating and mugging people, brandishing machetes, dragging people behind motorcycles who refuse to let go of their purses, etc. There are also widespread murders and rapes. PDFs are apprehending more criminals in their control areas, but so far they are not able to keep up with the growth in crime; junta police are doing nothing to combat crime in regime-controlled places.
Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)-------------------
A junta kangaroo court has sentenced a Japanese filmmaker to 10 years in prison for covering a pro-democracy rally in Yangon in July. (The Irrawaddy)
Newly-elected Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr is suggesting that ASEAN negotiate with Burma’s illegal military regime. Marcos, son of a former dictator, calls this his “new strategy.” If the Philippines switches sides and joins ASEAN’s pro-dictatorship bloc, along with Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos, it could reduce the diplomatic pressure on the coup plotters in Naypyitaw. (Ayeyarwaddy Times)
India says it has caught smugglers importing 121 kg of gold from Burma in September, representing a sharp rise. This is amount of gold is worth US$6.5 million in Burma but over US$7 million in India. (The Irrawaddy) It’s another example of the country hemorrhaging wealth in the post-coup economic collapse, along with depleted foreign currency reserves and a change from food exporter to humanitarian crisis.
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