Police and soldiers killed in clashes with rebel fighters in eastern Myanmar
Issued on: 24/05/2021 -
Dozens of Myanmar security force members were killed Sunday, rebel fighters said, after heavy fighting in the coup-hit country's eastern fringe.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the February putsch, as the military uses lethal force to crack down on dissent.
The civilian death toll has climbed to at least 815 people, according to a local monitoring group.
The violence has pushed some in the anti-junta movement to form a so-called "People's Defence Force" (PDF) in their own townships -- made up of civilians who fight back against security forces with homemade weapons.
There were clashes in eastern Myanmar over the weekend, particularly in Kayah state's Demoso town, and in neighbouring Shan state
People's Defence Force member Thet Wai -- not his real name -- said at least 20 police officers died Sunday and his side seized a police station in Moebyel town, Shan state, east of the capital Naypyidaw.
The police station was burnt down and rebel fighters also took four security force members into custody, local media reported.
"I thought today is a day of conquest," Thet Wai, 29, told AFP.
"But I am also worried because we have seen air strikes and tanks today. They have much better weapons than us."
He said the Myanmar military had launched helicopter air strikes in the evening at Demoso, a town in Kayah state about 40 kilometres south.
Another civilian fighter at Demoso said at least 13 Myanmar soldiers had been killed Sunday, while four of his men were wounded.
"We intended to seize their police station, but they used air strikes and we could not stop their reinforcement trucks getting into the town," he said.
"We had to withdraw our troops from fighting."
The fighting continued through Sunday night, according to a senior leader of the Karenni National Progressive Party -- an ethnic armed group with a stronghold in Kayah state.
He confirmed that the military was using tanks, helicopters and mortar attacks in Demoso and Loikaw, the capital of Kayah state.
Meanwhile, military chief Min Aun Hlaing, who removed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power in the coup, gave a two-hour interview to Hong Kong's Phoenix Television, with the full programme yet to air.
In a snippet released Sunday, he offered reassurances to Chinese investors after a spate of arson attacks at factories in the commercial capital Yangon.
"Our citizens don't hate China," he said. "It happened for political reasons."
Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since she was placed under house arrest.
She has been hit with a string of criminal charges including flouting coronavirus restrictions during last year's election campaign and possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies.
Suu Kyi is expected to appear in person in court on Monday for the first time, after weeks of delays to her legal case.
(AFP)
Issued on: 24/05/2021 -
FILE PHOTO: People join a rally against the military coup to demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in Yangon, Myanmar, February 9, 2021. © REUTERS - Stringer
Text by: NEWS WIRES
Dozens of Myanmar security force members were killed Sunday, rebel fighters said, after heavy fighting in the coup-hit country's eastern fringe.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the February putsch, as the military uses lethal force to crack down on dissent.
The civilian death toll has climbed to at least 815 people, according to a local monitoring group.
The violence has pushed some in the anti-junta movement to form a so-called "People's Defence Force" (PDF) in their own townships -- made up of civilians who fight back against security forces with homemade weapons.
There were clashes in eastern Myanmar over the weekend, particularly in Kayah state's Demoso town, and in neighbouring Shan state
People's Defence Force member Thet Wai -- not his real name -- said at least 20 police officers died Sunday and his side seized a police station in Moebyel town, Shan state, east of the capital Naypyidaw.
The police station was burnt down and rebel fighters also took four security force members into custody, local media reported.
"I thought today is a day of conquest," Thet Wai, 29, told AFP.
"But I am also worried because we have seen air strikes and tanks today. They have much better weapons than us."
He said the Myanmar military had launched helicopter air strikes in the evening at Demoso, a town in Kayah state about 40 kilometres south.
Another civilian fighter at Demoso said at least 13 Myanmar soldiers had been killed Sunday, while four of his men were wounded.
"We intended to seize their police station, but they used air strikes and we could not stop their reinforcement trucks getting into the town," he said.
"We had to withdraw our troops from fighting."
The fighting continued through Sunday night, according to a senior leader of the Karenni National Progressive Party -- an ethnic armed group with a stronghold in Kayah state.
He confirmed that the military was using tanks, helicopters and mortar attacks in Demoso and Loikaw, the capital of Kayah state.
Meanwhile, military chief Min Aun Hlaing, who removed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power in the coup, gave a two-hour interview to Hong Kong's Phoenix Television, with the full programme yet to air.
In a snippet released Sunday, he offered reassurances to Chinese investors after a spate of arson attacks at factories in the commercial capital Yangon.
"Our citizens don't hate China," he said. "It happened for political reasons."
Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since she was placed under house arrest.
She has been hit with a string of criminal charges including flouting coronavirus restrictions during last year's election campaign and possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies.
Suu Kyi is expected to appear in person in court on Monday for the first time, after weeks of delays to her legal case.
(AFP)
Issued on: 23/05/2021 -
People take part in a demonstration against the February 1 military coup, along a street in the town of Muse in Shan state, near the China-Myanmar border on February 8, 2021. © STR, AFP
A gun battle erupted on Sunday between Myanmar security forces and an alliance of armed ethnic groups opposed to February's coup, at a town on the border with China, Myanmar media said.
The fighting at Muse, one of the main crossing points to China, was the latest to hit Myanmar since the coup led to an upsurge of conflict with insurgent groups in border regions, as well as bombings, shootings and arson across the country.
Gunfire broke out in Muse around dawn, broadcaster DVB and Khit Thit Media said. Khit Thit Media published pictures of what it said were civilian vehicles that were peppered with bullet holes.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Reuters was unable to reach a junta spokesman or spokesmen for the four ethnic armed groups that make up the Northern Alliance.
One of the groups in the alliance, the Kachin Independence Army, attacked a military post in northwestern Myanmar, nearly 320 km (200 miles) from Muse and closer to the Indian border on the other side of the country on Saturday.
The junta is fighting a growing number of conflicts since it seized power on Feb. 1 and overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Ethnic armed groups that have waged war for decades to demand greater autonomy have been joined by new groups opposed to the coup.
Meanwhile, protests are carried out daily against military rule, while strikes have paralysed hospitals, schools and much private business.
More than 125,000 school teachers - nearly a third of the total - have been suspended for joining a civil disobedience movement to oppose the coup, an official of the Myanmar Teachers' Federation said.
Demand the release of prisoners
At least 815 people have been killed by security forces since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group.
The junta disputes that figure and its leader, Min Aung Hlaing, said in comments broadcast on Saturday that 300 people had been killed in addition to 47 police.
Protesters also demand the release of nearly 4,300 people who have been arrested since the coup, including Suu Kyi, 75.
Min Aung Hlaing said Suu Kyi was healthy and would soon appear in court. Her next hearing is on Monday on some of the many charges brought against her, which range from illegal possession of walkie-talkie radios to breaching a state secrets law.
The army seized power on the grounds of alleged fraud in the general election won by Suu Kyi's party in November. Its accusations had been dismissed by the former electoral commission, dozens of whose officials are now locked up.
(REUTERS)
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