23rd May 2021
Following on from yesterday’s action in Demoso two artillery shells landed in the town today; Ooredoo (one of the telecom suppliers, based in Qatar) the internet is disconnected; Telenor (telecom supplier, Norway based) only ‘E’ is available and you can’t connect any apps. There has been NO ELECTRICITY since the evening. This makes it difficult to get information from there.
In Mandalay the security forces have gone undercover as the temperature hits the 40c just before the monsoon is due to start.
Meanwhile, a member of the local defence force is pictured smashing the sign of Moe Bye police station after they had a victory over the SAC troops today. According to the local media, 15 members of SAC were killed and 4 captured alive by the local force.
In an update on the above initial report, the Irrawaddy has the latest information.
Around 40 regime soldiers have reportedly been killed during fierce clashes by the Karenni People’s Defense Force (PDF), formed by civilian resistance fighters, and the Karenni Army in Kayah State on Sunday.
A clash broke out in Moe Bye on the Shan-Kayah state border on Sunday morning with the regime forces indiscriminately firing artillery shells at civilian houses, injuring two civilians and destroying homes, according to a member of the Karenni PDF.
Following a prolonged clash, the resistance fighters and Karenni Army seized Moe Bye police station at around noon. At least 15 regime troops were killed and four detained, according to the Kantarawaddy Times. The police station was burned down.
A 27-year-old civilian resistance fighter was killed and around five PDF members were injured in Moe Bye.
“After seeing their brutality towards civilians, we decided to fight back weapons we collected,” a resident said.
“Young people say that instead of being arrested and killed for protesting, they will revolt with what they find and die as martyrs.”
Prolonged clashes were also reported in Demoso Township in the state on Sunday with around 24 soldiers killed on the Loikaw-Demoso highway.
The fighting continued into the evening, the Kantarawaddy Times reported. Loikaw residents blocked Demoso’s roads to hinder junta access. Armoured vehicles were reported heading to the town on Sunday evening.
Kayah State is the latest state to see armed resistance to the military regime in response to junta violence since the February coup. Since late March, civilian resistance fighters in Chin State and Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay regions have taken up any weapons — from air guns to traditional firearms and homemade bombs — to fight the regime.
Source The Irrawaddy 23rd May 2021.
Fighting continues on the other side of the country.
Shootouts between junta troops and civilian People Defense Force (PDF) fighters continued in Kani, Sagaing Region, on Sunday.
Fighting was also reported on the Monywa-Kalaywa and Kani-Mingin highways in Kani Township on Sunday morning.
Two military vehicles reportedly triggered landmines.
“Junta troops used two vehicles to send injured soldiers to a hospital. After the firefight, they raided villages and looted shops,” a resident said.
A PDF member told The Irrawaddy that shootouts also occurred in eastern Kani Township on Sunday afternoon.
At about 7am on Saturday, a shootout occurred between the PDF and junta troops in 10 vehicles on the Kani-Mingin highway.
At least 10 resistance fighters were injured during the prolonged shootout.
“The firefight continued until Saturday night. There were also military casualties. Retreating military vehicles triggered landmines near the entrance to Kani,” a resident told The Irrawaddy.
Four civilian fighters were reported as missing and about 30 motorbikes were set on fire by junta troops. Junta drones are still hovering over the area, according to residents.
Two villages have reportedly been emptied because of the clashes and about 5,000 residents from 45 villages in Kani, Mingin and Yinmabin townships have now fled their homes.
Shootouts between regime forces and civilian resistance fighters started in Kani Township on April 2.
Source The Irrawaddy 23rd May 2021.
The opposition forces are now spreading their targets to include economic entities owned by the Generals and their cronies.
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) attacked two military and police security outposts and killed at least two police officers at the Hkamti jade mine, Sagaing Region early Saturday morning.
Residents said that the KIA set fire to both military and police outposts in Machyang Hka and Nam Si Bum villages at the Hkamti jade mine after the attack.
The villagers said the two compounds are owned by the Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (MEHL), one of two major conglomerates controlled by the coup leaders. MEHL, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and its subsidiary are heavily involved in the jade mining business in the country’s major jade hub in Hpakant and Hkamti townships.
“Military and police have been stationed there at bases for a long time. All the soldiers and police ran away after the KIA lunched the attacks,” a resident said.
“The military also launched airstrikes and one civilian was injured,” a resident said.
A KIA officer on the ground told The Irrawaddy the KIA captured at least seven injured police during the attack. However, The Irrawaddy could not verify the claim.
Source The Irrawaddy 22nd May 2021.
The list of abductees grows, with the latest being a well-known local singer Aye Thin Cho Swe, a pro-democracy activist, who was charged under 505(a).
And finally, a boycott of products made by Junta corporations has started with people exhorted to avoid them – very successfully it seems.
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