Burma coup resistance notes October 10, 2022
Arakan Army takes another camp; mass desertion of pro-junta militia members; 15 People's Defense soldiers fell in battle; Bago PDFs step up their game.
Yesterday was the annual Thadingyut full moon festival, when candles are lit and people traditionally return to their towns and families from wherever they’re working. For tens of thousands of PDF and ethnic army soldiers, and as many civil disobedience strikers, and 1.2 million recent refugees, there was no chance to go home. The soldiers stayed on the front lines in the war effort, and the others remained in their shelters. Celebrations will have to wait until the war is won.
Ethnic regions-------------------
The Arakan Army struck another blow early this morning, attacking and capturing another junta camp along the Bangladesh border at Laytya in Maungdaw township. Some of the 30 junta troops were killed and others captured, and the AA seized some large and small weapons, but details aren’t available yet. As usual after a lost battle, the junta bombed with Russian-supplied jets, hitting a nearby Muslim village. (Mizzima, Myaelatt Athan)
The Kachin army captured a truckload of junta weapons and ammunition yesterday in Sawlaw township. The troops with the load were killed. (Khit Thit Media)
The Kawthoolei government (KNU) published combat statistics for the month of September: 333 clashes occurred between the Karen army and the junta; 360 junta troops were killed and 264 wounded. Seven Karen soldiers were killed and 37 wounded, while 6 civilians were killed and 11 injured by junta mortar fire into residential areas. (KNU)
In Karenni State, refugees, who are more than half the state’s population, have stored their paddy (unmilled rice crop) in bags in the jungle where they are hiding. They now say about half the crops has been ruined by rats or lost to theft. The food supply situation in Karenni State is severe. (Kantarawaddy Times)
Junta army desertions------------------
In an unusual development, 27 members of the Pyu Saw Htee junta terrorist network defected to the PDF in Myaing township, Magway Region on Oct. 6; 15 men, 12 women. They say they were not armed by the junta and only given 3 days of training plus some acid to use to attack villages.
Junta scorched earth village terrorism campaign---------------
Junta troops burned Simaw village of Banmauk township 2 days ago Oct. 8, but not before they ransacked and looted the houses, stealing valuables.
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
Fifteen PDF soldiers fell in battle yesterday in Wetlet and Tantse townships of Sagaing Region. While that would be a normal toll for junta troops, it’s unusually severe for PDFs, who fight guerrilla-style and avoid risk. Eight of the dead were killed by helicopter fire in Wetlet, while the others died trying to help civilians evacuate during a junta terrorist invasion of their village in Tantse. (People's Spring)
In Sagaing Region, the Women’s Warrior Battalion blew up an entrance gate in Myaung town yesterday, killing 2 junta troops. The police chief in Wundwin town was assassinated last night; again, the PDFs are now striking inside the towns, which were formerly junta bastions. (Mizzima)
A report just emerged of an Oct. 7 battle in Kani township at Mywepine Mountain in which attacking PDFs killed 15 junta troops; 2 PDF soldiers were wounded. (Khit Thit Media)
In Kantbalu township, refugees in the bush are often bitten by venomous snakes; 20 have been bitten so far, and 2 died. This is a form of casualty resulting from the junta village terrorism campaign. (People's Spring)
In Magway Region, a coalition of about 15 PDFs confronted a junta/Pyu Saw Htee village terrorism squad and exchanged fire for 2 hours yesterday; results aren’t reported. (Khit Thit Media) In Htilin township a PDF blew up a junta food supply shipment escorted by 15 troops this morning, killing 5 of them. The survivors then shot their guns in all directions for 5 minutes. (Myaelatt Athan)
Bago Region, which has been a secondary theater in this war, is heating up. A PDF in Nattalin township blew up a junta patrol of 23 troops in Karen Sinsweh village yesterday, killing 4 troops and wounding 7. Another PDF opened fire on a junta military post along the Yangon-Naypyitaw expressway, killing 5 more troops; the number of wounded isn’t known. A junta police operative in Indagaw was assassinated last night as he was collecting bribes from illegal gambling dens. (Kawthoolei’s Kler Lwi Htoo District, which Burmese maps show in eastern Bago Region, is discussed under Karen territories in this journal.)
PDFs assassinated Pyu Saw Htee thugs in Pauk township of Magway Region and Maungmakan Beach of Kawthoolei Beit-Tavoy District (Tanintharyi Region on Burmese maps). The latter was armed and was involved in drug smuggling for the junta; his weapons were confiscated by the PDF. In Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State, two local junta administrators were assassinated by a PDF yesterday, while in Hpakant in the same state a junta policeman responsible for threatening protesters was killed and his car was taken. (Khit Thit Media, People’s Spring)
Urban warfare------------------
In Mandalay, an urban PDF identified a local junta administrator and Pyu Saw Htee terrorist who shot and killed a female protester earlier, and this morning the PDF killed him in the street. He was armed at the time. Also in Mandalay, 2 junta sergeants got into a drunken dispute and shot each other yesterday; one died. They were both on security duty at a junta electric company office. (Mizzima)
Revolution support-------------------
Burmese expatriates in the USA, Malaysia, and Thailand held large fundraising events yesterday to support the National Unity Government and the Spring Revolution. Some expatriate communities, like the Karen in Minnesota, USA, also raise money almost continuously to support their protection forces back home.
NOTE: If you have an Android/Samsung phone, you can read BCRN on a dedicated app that you can download at:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.substack.app&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
After installing, search on Substack for Burma Coup Resistance Notes, and click Subscribe.
-စီၤ ထံဆၢ