At least 30 junta troops were reportedly killed during two shootouts with civilian resistance forces in Kani and Yinmabin townships, Sagaing Region, on Tuesday, according to residents.

On Tuesday, around 1,000 civilian resistance fighters using homemade rifles attacked about 60 junta troops deployed at Tayaw Kyin village beside the Monywa-Kalaywa Highway. The village is near the border of Kani and Yinmabin townships in Sagaing Region.

Junta troops remain deployed in the village since the raid.

During the six-hour shootout, about 10 junta troops were killed, a villager who was involved in the fighting told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

Other resistance forces from the two townships also ambushed about 60 junta reinforcement from Monywa traveling to Tayaw Kyin village to help their defeated colleagues.

The junta reinforcements also triggered about five landmines on the Monywa-Kalaywa highway between Tayar Kyin and Bant Bway villages.

About 15 to 20 junta troops were killed, according to witnesses. In retribution, the security forces burned about eight houses near Bant Bway.

More than 100 junta reinforcements on Wednesday were searching forests near the villages.

“They are searching all houses beside the highway and the forests. They open fire at random,” a civilian resistance member said.

Shootouts between the regime’s troops and resistance fighters started in the area on April 2.

Several thousand villagers in Kani Township have fled their homes to avoid the fighting and regime raids.

Guerilla attack

Two junta police officers were reportedly killed by the civilian resistance Zero Guerilla Force during a raid on a police outpost in Mandalay Region’s Nagzon Township on Tuesday night.

A member of the group told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that 25 fighters raided the Min Nay Gon outpost in Nganzon Township on Tuesday night.

During the 20-minute firefight, two officers, including a police captain, were killed and the resistance fighters managed to retreat without casualties, the source said. Fifteen police officers were unharmed.

However, The Irrawaddy was not able to independently confirm the police casualties.

Zero Guerilla Force has attacked junta forces in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region, on several occasions. Last Friday, it shot dead a traffic police officer in Myingyan.

An army major and captain were shot dead by the group in the town on May 27 and June 3.

“We are the force to fight injustice. We will never accept the military regime. We have vowed to fight everything junta-related,” said the member.

Junta detainees

Nine civilians, including a family of six, were detained by junta forces during a house raid in Monywa Township, Sagaing Region, on Monday.

After being accused of supplying the People’s Defense Forces, tutor U Tin Myint Soe and his five family members, including a six-year-old girl, were detained along with three house guests by the junta forces during the Aye Tharyar Ward raid.

On Tuesday, the girl was reportedly released but the whereabouts of the other eight are unknown.

Junta-controlled newspapers said all the detainees were planning to supply the PDF in Kani Township.

A source, who knows the family, said they were planning to donate humanitarian aid to Kin Ma village in Pauk Township, Magwe Region, which was burned down after a clash between junta forces and resistance fighters on June 15.

“I condemn the junta for seizing people who are trying to help others. Helping each other is not a crime,” the source told The Irrawaddy.

The Irrawaddy

• The Irrawaddy 23 June 2021. :
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/around-30-myanmar-junta-troop-2-update-update-updates-killed-in-sagaing.html

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 Four Young Civilians Killed by Myanmar Junta in Mandalay

Myanmar’s regime forces killed four young people in a car in Mandalay on Tuesday. Their families deny claims [pls add: made by regime] they were members of the civilian resistance.

Three ethnic Ta’ang, Ko Mai Chit Swe, 24, Ko Mai Naing Laing and Naing Tun Kyi, were from northern Shan State and a Chinese man, Ko Arr T, were going to a chicken farm in Sintgaing Township, according to their families.

Regime-controlled Myawaddy TV said four “terrorists” opened fire on security personnel heading to a People’s Defense Force (PDF) base. Fighting broke out during a search near a PDF base. The regime forces raided the base on Tuesday morning.

The announcement said everyone in the vehicle was killed after it hit a transformer while being chased by the security forces.

Their relatives and residents rejected the regime’s claims.

Ko Mai Chit Swe’s sister told The Irrawaddy that the four were civilians with no connection to guerilla groups.

They were on their way to work at a chicken farm, she said.

“They had nothing to do with the PDF. They were workers. They had no weapons,” she said, calling for justice.

She said the families were not told that the four died in a car crash but were instead killed by the regime forces as they shot at the vehicle and threw grenades.

Residents contradicted the regime’s claims they were killed in a car crash by reporting that they saw that the regime forces opening fire and throwing grenades.

Ko Mai Naing Laing’s widow rejected the accusation her husband was a resistance member.

The couple married on June 6. She said Ko Mai Naing Laing called that morning to say they were driving to the chicken farm and were caught in a ceasefire.

Their bodies had not been returned to their families by Wednesday.

“I don’t dare go online and see pictures [of his body]. I just want to say the accusation is wrong and I want the body back,” she added.

Regime pictures spreading online showing eight bodies, including Ko Mai Chit Swe and his three friends.

The photographs show gunshot injuries in their heads and injured shoulders.

Myawaddy TV claimed eight PDF fighters, including the four in the car, were killed and eight detained during the shootout, while some junta troops were seriously injured.

However, the Mandalay PDF’s commander, who is known as Bo Tun Tauk Naing, told The Irrawaddy that only two resistance fighters were killed and six detained.

The Irrawaddy

• The Irrawaddy 23 June 2021. :
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/four-young-civilians-killed-by-myanmar-junta-in-mandalay.html

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 Myanmar Junta Colonel Killed in Raid on Mandalay Resistance

A lieutenant colonel, captain and an other rank from Myanmar’s military were killed on Tuesday by the People’s Defense Force (PDF) formed by civilian resistance fighters in Mandalay.

The three were killed by a small group of poorly armed civilian resistance fighters after junta forces raided a Mandalay PDF base in Hton Tone ward in Chan Mya Thazi Township on Tuesday morning.

Lieutenant Colonel Aung Myo Kyaw was an adjutant staff officer.

“The staff officer and captain died before the two sides exchanged fire and another soldier was shot during the shooting. Three died from the military side,” said a source in Mandalay.

The colonel and captain entered a two-story building, where the PDF was based, ahead of their troops and without making their weapons ready, said a ward resident.

“It appeared that they didn’t know there were armed PDF members inside the building. They arrived in a private vehicle and entered the building. They were shot by PDF members inside the building. Military trucks arrived after that,” said the resident.

Junta troops threw bombs and used a grenade launcher to assault the building.

The officers were rescued and taken to the military hospital inside the Mandalay Palace, but they died.

Myanmar’s military never discloses its casualties but there are widespread reports on social media, including in military circles, that the colonel is dead.

The captain is reportedly from the Military Security Affairs Office.

Lt Col Aung Myo Kyaw filed a complaint against monk U Thawbita, the head of the Bawa Alin charity in Mandalay, in 2019 for defaming the military on Facebook. The monk posted that Myanmar’s military is more destructive than a natural disaster.

He was the highest-ranking junta officer killed since the February coup.

“Adjutants are responsible for administrative matters. They barely need to go outside. Military operations are normally supervised by G1 [general staff officer]. The fact that an adjutant came on an operation means the military is overstretched,” said an anonymous ex-police officer.

Junta mouthpiece the Myawaddy Television claimed four civilian resistance fighters died and eight others were detained in the clash that lasted about 90 minutes. Mandalay PDF said two of its members were killed and six were detained.

All the detainees were reportedly taken to the Mandalay Palace camp for interrogation.

There are reports that the PDF base was identified by military informants and Tuesday’s raid is connected with the previous junta raid on a PDF military training ground on the outskirts of Mandalay on May 21.

Striking military officers Lt. Min Khant Kyaw and Lt. Soe Wai Hlaing were reportedly arrested in the May 21 raid, and another striking military officer Capt. Lin Htet Aung said he had lost contact with the two and warned people to take caution if they were contacted by the officers’ Facebook accounts.

The Irrawaddy

• The Irrawaddy 23 June 2021. :
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-colonel-killed-in-raid-on-mandalay-resistance.html

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 UPDATED: Two Civilian Fighters Killed Amid Shootout With Myanmar Junta Troops in Mandalay

A Mandalay civilian resistance group fighting against the military regime said two of its members were killed and six arrested by junta troops following a raid on one of the group’s bases on Tuesday morning.

Fighting broke out between the People’s Defense Force Mandalay (Mdy PDF) and the troops during the raid in the city’s Chanmyathazi Township.

On Tuesday afternoon, military-run Myawady TV said eight PDF fighters were killed and eight arrested during the shootout, while some junta troops were seriously injured.

However, the person in charge of the Mandalay PDF’s urban guerrilla warfare unit, who uses the pseudonym Bo Tun Tauk Naing, told The Irrawaddy that only two resistance fighters were killed.

“Among the six arrested are civil servants on strike and students. Some weapons were also seized,” he said.

Junta troops reportedly raided a boarding school where PDF fighters were based in Hton Tone ward at around 7.30 a.m.

“They sniffed us out. They came to our base at between 111^st and 112^nd streets on 54^th Street and we shot at them as they came,” Bo Tun Tauk Naing said.

PDF fighters attempted to withdraw from the base as their colleagues from other parts of the town rushed to rescue them.

Junta forces used grenades in the fighting, the PDF said. Junta troops also used snipers and armored vehicles in the clash.

“Junta troops arrived around 7 a.m. and opened fire at 111^st and 54^th streets. It was not heavy shooting. Then there was an exchange of fire between 8 a.m. and 8.30 a.m. So far, junta troops have not yet raided houses. But they are detaining every man on sight,” a resident of Hton Tone Ward said in the morning while the clash was still going on.

He said he heard the sounds of machine guns and grenades. Locals stayed indoors during the shootout, he said.

Following the fighting, the US and Canadian embassies in Yangon on Tuesday called for a cessation of violence and for the protection of civilians, saying they were disturbed and concerned by the fighting in Mandalay.

The Mandalay PDF was formed by local resistance fighters who underwent military training provided by ethnic armed groups. They operate under the parallel National Unity Government.

The story was updated on Tuesday afternoon to reflect the latest situation.

The Irrawaddy

• The Irrawaddy 22 June 2021. :
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/two-civilian-fighters-killed-amid-shootout-with-myanmar-junta-troops-in-mandalay.html

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