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Junta forces seize control of strategic road after intense assault on resistance stronghold

March 14, 2022/in News

The KNDF withdrew from Daw Ngan Kar under a barrage of missiles, airstrikes and artillery fire, but have vowed to retake the neighbourhood The junta’s forces have taken control of a key neighbourhood along a strategically important road in Karenni State that leads to Naypyitaw, forcing resistance fighters to retreat under a barrage of missiles, […]

Women vow to rise from ashes to defeat Myanmar regime

March 11, 2022/in News

In Sagaing Region, women who have lost their homes to brutal attacks by junta forces continue to defy their oppressors Charred wood and blackened sheets of corrugated metal were all that welcomed Hla May* when she returned to her home. The air in her village was still thick with the acrid smell of smoke. And […]

Junta forces seize control of strategic road after intense assault on resistance stronghold

March 14, 2022/in News

Women vow to rise from ashes to defeat Myanmar regime

March 11, 2022/in News

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Junta forces seize control of strategic road after intense assault on resistance stronghold

March 14, 2022/in News

The KNDF withdrew from Daw Ngan Kar under a barrage of missiles, airstrikes and artillery fire, but have vowed to retake the neighbourhood

The junta’s forces have taken control of a key neighbourhood along a strategically important road in Karenni State that leads to Naypyitaw, forcing resistance fighters to retreat under a barrage of missiles, airstrikes and artillery fire.

The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KDNF) withdrew from Daw Ngan Khar, which is just minutes from the centre of the town of Demoso, after coming under attack on Saturday.

A road linking Demoso to Moebye, a town just north of the border with Shan State, runs through Daw Ngan Khar and then connects to a route that leads to Myanmar’s capital.

Some 200 soldiers were involved in the assault, according to a spokesperson for the KNDF’s Battalion 1.

“They fired missiles. There was no way we could defend against a series of missiles. They also fired 60mm, 80mm, 120mm and 122mm artillery shells relentlessly,” he told Myanmar Now. “We didn’t want to give up control over the area but we had to as we didn’t want to lose any more lives.”

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The KNDF still had control of other parts of Demoso Township and would retake Daw Ngan Khar, he said: “We want Daw Ngan Khar back and we will take it back. Please give us your support.”

He added: “It wouldn’t solve every problem but it would be a lot better for the IDPs and for the resistance forces if we could regain control over the area between Daw Ngan Khar and Moebye. At least the IDPs would have somewhere to flee to. They no longer have anywhere to run now.”

During the assault on Daw Ngan Khar, junta soldiers from Infantry Battalions 102, 261, and 427 fired heavy artillery. In recent days and nights scouting helicopters have been hovering over Demoso Township and the junta’s air force has dropped bombs on camps where displaced people have been sheltering, the KNDF spokesperson said.

He had also heard reports that junta forces bombed villages along the Demoso-Moebye road, killed civilians and burned down houses, though he was unable to gather further details because of the communications blackout.

Fighting escalated in the area a month ago after junta soldiers entered and occupiedMoebye. Since then over 100 junta personnel and 40 resistance fighters have been killed, according to statements by the KNDF.

Nineteen civilians have also been killed, including four who died when junta aircraft dropped bombs on camps for people who had fled their homes, according to the statements.

Since fighting erupted in the wake of last year’s military coup, more than 170,000 people have fled their homes in Karenni region, which covers Karenni State and Pekhon Township in southern Shan State.

Many have had to flee several times amid repeated attacks on displacement camps by the junta’s forces, several volunteer aid workers have said.

In early January, anti-junta forces said they had taken control of Loikaw Township, where Karenni’s capital is based. The junta responded by launching numerous assaults aimed at reclaiming the territory, while cutting off phone and internet access to the area.

Resistance forces in Karenni, like those elsewhere in the country, say they do not have enough weapons and ammunition, and have called on the National Unity Government (NUG) to supply them.

Saturday’s defeat in Daw Ngan Khar happened because the resistance was outgunned by the junta, said a KNDF fighter who was involved in the clash.

The group’s fighters had to take turns using weapons during the clash because they didn’t have enough for everyone to be armed at the same time, he said.

“We didn’t think they’d use that much force. It was just too cruel,” he added. “We eventually had to retreat solely because we didn’t have as many weapons as them. But we are going to continue fighting because we just can’t stand injustice.”

Since declaring a war of resistance against the junta in September, the NUG has repeatedly said it is working to establish a chain of command to unify the numerous anti-junta armed groups across Myanmar.

But it remains unclear to what extent the underground administration is arming and training resistance forces.

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A surface to surface missile truck launches a missile during a demonstration by the Myanmar military in Mandalay Region in 2019 (Junta-controlled media)

Naing Htoo Aung, the secretary of the NUG’s defence ministry, told Myanmar Now that supporting the nationwide armed resistance was a “priority”.

“We are trying to provide more funds and weapons,” he said last week. “This is a priority as well as a challenge for the defence department of the NUG.”

The KNDF says it is working under the command of the Karenni Army (KA), a rebel group that has operated in the region for decades, rather than under the NUG.

The KNDF has 18 battalions and is formed of groups of locals who took up arms last year to resist the new junta.

Other resistance groups in the region–including those from Moebye, Pekhon, Demoso, Loikaw and Hpruso townships–say they have formed official ties with the NUG.

There are various other self-organising guerrilla groups active in the region, but it is unclear if they are still operating independently or under the command of a larger group.

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Children walk through a camp for displaced people in Karenni region earlier this month (Myanmar Now)

Aung San Myint, the deputy secretary of the Karenni National Progressive Party, the political wing of the KA, said every resistance group must come under a single chain of command in order to defeat the junta.

“We need to have a step-by-step military plan,” he said. “The plan is very chaotic right now because the resistance groups are not under a single chain of command. That is the reason why we’ve lost so many people.”

Karenni State, also known as Kayah, has a population of around 300,000 people. Well over half that number have been displaced by fighting since the coup, according to local civil society groups.

Junta officials could not be reached for comment on the latest clashes.

Myanmar Now News

Women vow to rise from ashes to defeat Myanmar regime

March 11, 2022/in News

In Sagaing Region, women who have lost their homes to brutal attacks by junta forces continue to defy their oppressors

Charred wood and blackened sheets of corrugated metal were all that welcomed Hla May* when she returned to her home.

The air in her village was still thick with the acrid smell of smoke. And with every gust of wind, ashes stirred and swirled, making it that much harder to breathe.

But Hla May was not reduced to despair the way her home had been reduced to ashes. As she surveyed the devastation, she gripped a piece of corrugated tin—part of what had once been her home—and braced herself to speak.

“You can burn our village, but not our spirit and our soil,” she said defiantly.

The others who gathered around her repeated her words, which had become the newest slogan of their movement to resist Myanmar’s brutal military regime.

“If we stop protesting after the fire, they will think we have given up. They will think we are afraid,” Hla May continued, her voice rising.

Around a quarter of the roughly 800 homes in Pan Ywar, a village in Sagaing Region’s Pale Township, were burned to the ground on January 31, the eve of the first anniversary of last year’s coup. They were among the thousands that the military has torched around the country since seizing power.

Sagaing Region has borne the brunt of the junta’s scorched-earth campaign to eradicate opposition to its rule. According to one estimate, around 60% of the more than 6,000 homes set on fire by regime forces since the coup were in Sagaing.

Despite the junta’s efforts to terrorise civilians into submission, however, the resistance movement continues to grow. And women, including ordinary housewives like 48-year-old Hla May, have been at the forefront of this struggle.

Hundreds of homes were destroyed by regime forces in Lel Yar, a village in Magway Region’s Pauk Township, on March 3

A series of attacks carried out on Saturday reduced one village to ashes, sources in Sagaing Region’s Khin-U Township reported

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The military has subjected dozens of villages in Sagaing Region to devastating raids (CJ)

‘I remain strong’

On the night that their village was set alight, Hla May and the other residents of Pan Ywar were hiding in the forest. They had fled with a few emergency provisions after learning that soldiers were approaching the nearby village of Mweton.

Helplessly, they watched as first Mweton, and then Pan Ywar, were consumed by fire.

“Some started crying when they saw the flames, but not me. Our houses didn’t burn down because of our negligence. They were intentionally set on fire,” said Hla May.

“I am not sad. I remain strong,” she added.

Even after they returned to the village the next day and saw the extent of the damage, Hla May did not shed a tear. She just examined the ruins and thought about those responsible for laying waste to their lives.

The marauders who did this didn’t just take things of value, such as food and vehicles, she said. They took everything they could lay their hands on, and destroyed everything else.

“They take whatever they want, even children’s toys,” she said.

Hla May used to be a farmer. Now, however, she lives in the forest, surviving on food donated by other villages.

“I had to give up my work. I couldn’t do it anymore. But to tell the truth, I’m not interested in doing my work now. All I want to do is focus on winning the revolution,” she said.

‘We can’t just surrender’

For 20-year-old Nyein, who also lived in Pan Ywar until it came under attack, these past few weeks have been the hardest of her life.

An avid gardener, Nyein was devastated when she saw that the plants she had cultivated with such care had been set ablaze by junta troops.

“I’m sad. I feel like I have nothing left,” she said, describing how she felt as if all her happiest memories had been crushed in a single night of wanton destruction.

But even so, she said she did not regret her opposition to the regime.

“We can’t just surrender without resisting. It can’t be helped that they burned down our houses because of that,” she said.

Like others from Pan Ywar—some of whom had spent years working in the city to save enough money to build their homes—Nyein now lives on a bamboo mat under a tarpaulin sheet.

Forced to flee with nothing but the clothes on her back, she said she had to go for days without bathing when she first arrived in the forest. Feminine hygiene products are still unavailable, she added.

There is enough food to eat for now, she said. She wasn’t sure, however, how long it would last. She said she would just have to deal with her current situation one day at a time.

But even under these circumstances, she and other women in the village decided to hold a protest against the junta 11 days after their homes were destroyed.

Brandishing fragments of their former lives as symbols of defiance, they demanded that the junta give up power and restore the country’s rightful government.

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Chaung-U, in Sagaing’s Pale Township, is seen after a raid by regime forces (CJ)

‘Fight until the bitter end’

The sight of flames rising from her village didn’t really upset Aye Nge; it wasn’t until the next day, when she returned to where her home had once stood, that the tears began to flow.

Surrounded by a scene of utter destruction, she cried inconsolably for some time, knowing how much it had cost her parents to build their home.

“Some people worked like slaves to build their homes. They were good homes,” she said in a low voice.

But even after losing her home and all of her possessions, Aye Nge said she was prepared to make even greater sacrifices if need be to bring down a dictatorship that had inflicted so much suffering on the country.

“We didn’t think they would be this cruel. We were hurt deeply by their actions. We will fight against the military regime until our last breath, through our pain and sadness,” she said.

“I have lost my home, but even if I lose my life, I will continue the fight in spirit until the military regime is gone,” she added.

This was a sentiment shared by many of the women of Pan Ywar.

“We will uproot the military council, no matter how difficult it is. We will never surrender. We will never get down on our knees. We will continue the revolution from the jungle or anywhere else,” said Hla May.

“No matter what, we must fight until the bitter end. We must keep up the fight, even if we are left with nothing. Only then will life be better for our next generation,” said Nyein.

“We won’t give up just because they burned our village,” she added.

*All names have been changed to protect the identities of the women interviewed for this article

This article was originally published in Burmese by HI Burma

Myanmar Now News

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