Tue, June 22, 2021,
A military handout photograph shows soldiers and police arresting people during a raid in Mandalay
The army in Myanmar's second city, Mandalay, has clashed with a local militia opposed to February's military coup.
The clashes are the first time the People's Defense Forces (PDF) have come up against the army in a major city.
The defence force is a collective name for militia groups that have sprung up in Myanmar since the coup.
Myanmar's military junta has violently put down anti-coup protests in the country, killing hundreds of civilians.
Until now, actions by the PDF have been limited to fighting in rural areas or small towns. Tuesday's clashes brought the violence to a major city, marking a new phase in the fallout from the coup.
According to local reports, troops raided a boarding school being used as a base by the militia, leading to an exchange of gunfire.
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The junta said four protesters were killed in the raid and eight arrested, and several soldiers injured. The Mandalay PDF confirmed the raid, on 54th Street in the Chan Mya Thar Si Township, in a post on social media.
The PDF said weapons were seized from inside the building and several members of the group arrested, but did not confirm whether there were any casualties.
Local people told the BBC that security checks were being tightened in the city in the wake of the violent exchange.
The military has previously responded to PDF attacks on soldiers with artillery and air strikes, displacing thousands of people from their homes.
Security forces have killed at least 873 protesters since the February coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners - an activist group which is monitoring the numbers. The military disputes the figure.
The United Nations General Assembly on Friday called for a halt in the international flow of arms to Myanmar, and urged the military to respect the results of a November election and release political detainees, including the country's democratically-elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's foreign ministry rejected the UN statement, saying it was "based on one-sided sweeping allegations and false assumptions".
Myanmar in profile
Myanmar, also known as Burma, became independent from Britain in 1948. For much of its modern history it has been under military rule
Restrictions began loosening from 2010 onwards, leading to free elections in 2015 and the installation of a government led by veteran opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi the following year
In 2017, Myanmar's army responded to attacks on police by Rohingya militants with a deadly crackdown, driving more than half a million Rohingya Muslims across the border into Bangladesh in what the UN later called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing"
Map of Myanmar showing Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon
People walk out from a house believed to have been raided by security forces, in Mandalay
Mon, June 21, 2021,
(Reuters) -Myanmar security forces backed by Armoured vehicles clashed on Tuesday with a newly formed guerrilla group in the second biggest city Mandalay, army-run media, the militias and a witness said, resulting in at least two casualties.
Since the army seized power on Feb. 1 and removed Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, troops have put down pro-democracy demonstrations and strikes and killed or arrested hundreds of protesters.
In response, people's defence forces have sprung up across the Southeast Asian country to take on security forces.
Until now, fighting involving lightly armed militias has been mainly in small towns and rural areas, but a group claiming to be Mandalay's new People's Defence Force said its members responded after the army raided one of its bases.
"The fight has started. There will be more fights," a militiaman identified as Captain Tun Tauk Naing said by telephone.
The sound of repeated gunfire could be heard in video footage taken by a resident in Mandalay, a hotspot for anti-coup protests.
Army-owned Myawaddy Television said on its Telegram message channel that security forces raided a house and "armed terrorists" fought back with small weapons and bombs.
It said four were killed and eight arrested and some members of the security forces were seriously hurt.
The junta typically describes its opponents as "terrorists".
Local news site Myanmar Now said about 20 soldiers conducted the raid, sparking a gunfight, and three armoured vehicles were deployed.
Another official from the militia group told the Mizzima news portal that six of its members had been arrested and two soldiers were killed.
An activist in Mandalay told Reuters he heard gunfire and saw about 10 armoured vehicles. "We are all afraid, but at least we know we have the support of the nation," he said. "Everyone in Myanmar knows the situation in Mandalay now."
A small group of demonstrators was seen rallying behind the Mandalay militias, carrying banners and making three-finger gestures symbolising resistance to military rule.
A spokesman for the junta did not answer calls seeking comment. State-run MRTV did not report the Mandalay unrest during its nightly newscast.
The U.S. Embassy in Myanmar said on Twitter that it was tracking reports of fighting in Mandalay and urgently called for a cessation of violence.
The military has used artillery and air strikes in response to guerrilla attacks on soldiers elsewhere in Myanmar, which have led to casualties on both sides and an exodus of tens of thousands of people.
The United Nations General Assembly called on Friday for a stop to the arms flow to Myanmar and urged the military to respect the outcome of a November election and release political detainees, including Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi, 76, faces multiple charges including incitement, corruption and official secrets breaches. She appeared in court for her trial on Tuesday and was in normal health, her lawyer said. Her lawyers have said the charges are baseless.
(Reporting by Reuters StaffWriting by Ed DaviesEditing by Martin Petty and Mark Heinrich)
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