Discover more from Burma Coup Resistance Notes
Burma coup resistance notes September 14, 2024
Torrential rains & flooding overshadowed the war this week, causing displacement, loss of livelihoods, and hundreds of deaths. Karenni defense forces lost 18 members in a drowning accident.
Arakan-------------------
Two consecutive days of airstrikes in Arakan State killed at least 67 people, including many captured junta soldiers and officers. Over 50 died on Sept. 9 in a strike on a prisoner of war camp in Maungdaw. Junta troops detained there were killed, as were members of pro-junta Rohingya militias and some Arakan Army staff. An unknown number were wounded. Another airstrike the previous day killed 17 and wounded 10; as that happened at a hospital, it is covered under the Terrorism section below. The Arakan Army accuses the junta of killing its captured soldiers to prevent them testifying about about the atrocities they had committed. (People's Spring 9/10)
Kachin-------------------
The flotilla of 5 junta supply ships making its way up the Irrawaddy River from Mandalay toward Banmaw in Kachin State was attacked again, this time by the Kachin army and allied PDFs in Shweku Township of Kachin State. Drone bombs killed 12 troops aboard the boats on Sept. 3. Then a troop column tried to advance by land and was intercepted by the Kachin-led forces on Sept. 12, resulting in over 40 killed. Two of the boats retreated downriver, and the other 3 are stuck at Shweku. (People's Spring 9/13) The boats are trying to resupply the dwindling junta forces in Banmaw, Kachin State’s second city, which are under attack by the Kachin army.
The Kachin army continues its siege of Hpakant city, with an all-out assault on the suburb of Saitaung. The Kachin overwhelmed the police barracks there the night of Sept. 11-12, and the surviving junta troops fled to a hotel where the battle continued. Jets dropped bombs, and the junta troops set fire to the town on their way through. (Mizzima 9/12)
Kawthoolei-------------------
The Karen army has been attacking junta camps along the road from Thanphyuzayat in Mon State to Xrotherpler (3 pagodas) on the Thai border since early August. On Sept. 12 they captured one of the camps at Lutshan. Fighting continues for control of Noh Chu Neh (Anankwin) camp. (People's Spring 9/12)
A junta foot column coming down from Daw Hpah Hkoh (Thandaunggyi) toward Taungoo in Taw Oo District was intercepted by forces under the leadership of Karen army Brigade 2 on Sept. 8. There were at least 20 junta casualties, though the breakdown between wounded and killed isn’t given. (Khit Thit Media 9/10)
A junta column of 70 troops left a camp at Maungmakan Beach in Beit-Tavoy District on Sept. 7 and went to a village, where it was attacked by PDFs. The PDFs continued to attack for the following 4 days as the column headed back toward Maungmakan and also after it arrived back at its base. The PDFs say at least 20 junta troops in the military camp and adjacent police barracks were killed during 5 days of fighting. Survivors retreated to a monastery. (People's Spring 9/12)
Karenni-----------------
Ten Karenni and Shan defense force soldiers (mainly KNDF) and 8 police women drowned while crossing a flood-swollen stream on Sept. 11 during a training exercise. They were part of a course for military medics. Two of the bodies were not recovered. (Myanmar Now 9/13)
People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)-----------------
PDFs ambushed a freight convoy from the Chinese-owned Wangbao mine in Yinmapin Township on Sept. 11, killing a junta officer and wounding 5 troops that were escorting the trucks. (People's Spring 9/13) Wangbao is a joint venture with the junta, yielding income that supports its terrorist activities. The company has seized the land of 3 villages, rendering the residents homeless and landless.
PDFs attacked a police barracks in Myaung Township of Sagaing Region starting Sept. 2. After 2 days the junta sent reinforcements from across the Chindwin River in Yesajo Township of Magway Region. The PDFs fired on them from the shore with locally-manufactured rockets and small weapons, sinking 2 boats, killing 17 troops, and wounding at least 30, according to the PDFs. They were unable to capture the barracks, however, due to a helicopter counter-attack. (Khit Thit Media 9/13)
An article in The Diplomat describes rogue acts by certain PDFs in the central dry zone that lack oversight from ethnic armies, and whose control by the National Unity Government (NUG) is tenuous. The abuses include arbitrary orders given to civilians, extortion at checkpoints, sexual assault and even murder in certain cases. Unsupervised armed groups are accused of warlord behavior or banditry, and arouse the resentment of local populations. The NUG has struggled to impose its order in these cases. This has not weakened the common resolve to defeat the junta, and most PDFs are still loyal to the populations they protect and depend on for their support, but there is a rule-of-law problem in liberated parts of central Burma. (“Anarchy in Anyar: A Messy Revolution in Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone”, by Naw Theresa, The Diplomat, 9/10/2024, https://thediplomat.com/2024/09/anarchy-in-anyar-a-messy-revolution-in-myanmars-central-dry-zone)
On the same topic, the NUG said in a Sept. 11 statement that there have been 80+ judiciary cases filed regarding violations committed by PDF and revolutionary governance groups; 11 have resulted in punishment, while 70 are pending. One entire township governance committee has been suspended, and members of 6 others have been dismissed and replaced. (Tanintharyi Times 9/13)
Urban warfare------------------
A bomb went off during a meeting of junta administrators in Dagon Myothit Township of Yangon on Sept. 9 as they were planning the forced assembly of men over age 35 into a junta-defense militia. Casualties aren’t specified. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 9/10)
Junta decline------------------
Junta troops kidnapped about 100 men being forcibly repatriated by the Thai military regime at Kawthaung in Kawthoolei’s Beit-Tavoy District, and loaded them onto 3 stolen fishing boats for transport to Palaw on Sept. 9. Twenty-seven of the men on one of the boats pushed 2 guards overboard, then escaped with the boat and reached the safety of the Karen army. Two remaining junta guards joined them, and their weapons were confiscated. Junta troops then raided and punished the village where the escapees came ashore, and 22 of the 27 decided to join the resistance forces. They will train with the Karen army. (Tanintharyi Times 9/10)
The military junta sentenced 2 of its own officers to death by firing squad for the crime of losing the battle of Kyaukme on Aug. 5 to the Ta’ang army in northern Shan State. A colonel and a brigadier general were given the death penalty for surrendering. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 9/10) The generals in the Naypyitaw palaces expect soldiers to die in battle rather than surrender.
Seventeen new forced recruits fled a battle against the Arakan Army in Gwa Township, but were recaptured, beaten, some of them were shot, and the rest sent back to the front line. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 9/10)
Terrorism--------------------
Jets bombed a hospital for prisoners, including captured junta soldiers, in Pauktaw, Arakan State on Sept. 8, killing 17 patients and staff and injuring another 10. Among the dead were captured junta officers. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 9/9)
On Sept. 9 jets bombed a UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) office in Maungdaw, Arakan State. The roof was clearly painted with a giant UN logo, making it impossible to mistake, a deliberate terrorist act. The office was believed to be vacant since UN staff pulled out in early August. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 9/10)
Junta dictator Min Aung Hlaing said in a Sept. 3 speech that he will bomb civilian homes and buildings in liberated towns to prevent them operating normally. These airstrikes killed over 40 non-combatants during the first week of September. (The Voice of Spring 9/8) The policy clearly shows his intent to destroy the country if he cannot control it.
Civilians who arrive at Mandalay General Hospital with gunshot and shrapnel wounds are being denied adequate care and their families are being extorted large sums of money by troops guarding the hospital. The troops accuse wounded civilians of PDF involvement, and prevent doctors treating them, confining them together in a single room. The wounds are typically caused by junta shelling and fire into civilian areas. (Mandalay Free Press 9/10)
In the small junta-controlled enclave of Sittwe in Arakan State, the regime handed out 3-year hard labor prison sentences on Sept. 6 to 200 residents of Byaing Phyu village for allegedly supporting the Arakan Army. The 200 are survivors of a terrorist raid on May 29 in which junta troops massacred 76 civilians and raped local women. They have been held hostage since then. (Ayeyarwaddy Times 9/9)
When a peace negotiator came to arrange for civilians to evacuate the combat zone in Saitaung suburb of Hpakant city in Kachin State on Sept. 9, junta troops shot him in the leg. U Yot Zaw Hkawng is in stable condition. (Mizzima 9/9)
Political and economic-------------------
Many of the local forces active in the Spring Revolution are appealing for donations to enable the final stages of the eradication of the military junta.
The Chinese dictatorship is providing equipment worth 5 million yuan (US$700K) to the Burma junta police, and signed a memorandum of cooperation. (Tanintharyi Times 9/13) The two regimes share a common fear of democracy and free expression.
- စီၤ ထံဆၢ