Kills Myanmar Military Regime Battalion Commander, CDF Troops Ready To Face Revenge

JAKARTA - Anti-regime military resistance forces in Chin State said they expected violent clashes in Mindat City as revenge after a Tatmadaw battalion commander was killed last week.

A spokesman for the Chinland Defense Forces (CDF) said the commander, a lieutenant colonel, was killed in clashes between the CDF and the Tatmadaw along the Mindat-Matupi highway on Friday morning last week.

Myanmar's military-controlled newspaper The Mirror announced on Saturday that Lieutenant Colonel Zaw Zaw Soe, died at around 6.15am while on duty, though did not give details of where or how he died.

Zaw Zaw Soe was among 10 junta soldiers killed in Friday's fighting, according to the CDF. Since the clashes, the situation in Mindat has become more tense, a spokesman for the group told Myanmar Now.

"The military has sent reinforcements. I think they have sent about three columns of their troops. After the battle, about 80 troops of reinforcements arrived from Matupi. It looks like the fighting will become more serious," the spokesman said.

Fighting along the mountainous highway began on July 21 when Myanmar's military regime forces launched an offensive, according to the Mindat People's Administration Team.

Twenty-six soldiers of the Myanmar military regime and 15 CDF fighters have been killed in the two weeks since, a CDF spokesman said. There are also unconfirmed reports that civilians have been forced to flee their homes.

On July 24, the CDF said they took control of a police station in the remote town of M'kuiimnu without opening fire, after six police and soldiers surrendered and agreed to join the resistance.

Mindat has been a bastion of armed resistance against the junta since civilians took up arms there in April, using traditional hunting rifles and then wresting more sophisticated weapons from the military.

During recent clashes, the Chin National Front, an armed group that was largely inactive before the coup, has fought alongside the CDF, as have branches of the People's Defense Force from various parts of Chin State, a CDF spokesman said.

The CDF said it plans to continue the offensive, despite orders to wait for the signal for a full-scale national offensive against military regime forces from the Government of National Unity (NUG), the spokesman said.

"Currently, we plan to continue fighting as we prepare for the upcoming war. There is no way to stop the fighting if they continue to trespass in the areas where we operate," he stressed.

Separately, NUG Defense Minister Yee Mon told RFA last month some 8,000 PDF fighters will complete combat training by the end of July. He urged resistance fighters across the country to wait for his signal to launch a coordinated attack.

"During this time of preparation, I urge our revolutionary comrades to prepare for their own safety, health and morale," Yee Mon said.

Last month, a spokesman for the PDF of eastern Yangon, which has been in close coordination with the NUG, told Myanmar Now an "all-out" conflict was on its way.

"I promise we will soon arrive at your doorstep. We are currently engaged in a guerrilla war, but please be aware that it will not be long before we start an all-out battle," the spokesman stressed.

The Myanmar Coup. The editor of VOI continues to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Civilian casualties continued to fall. Readers can follow news about the Myanmar military coup by tapping this link.