JAKARTA - Myanmar's military has deployed thousands of troops to northern Myanmar in recent weeks, in what appears to be preparations for exerting joint pressure to crush an anti-coup insurgency that has seen heavy casualties on the side of the Myanmar military regime, according to local residents and sources. source of armed resistance.
Chin State and the Sagaing and Magway regions have seen an increase in military strength since the beginning of the month, the sources said. This comes after months of fierce clashes between junta forces and local resistance groups operating as part of the People's Defense Army (PDF), formed by the shadow government or Government of National Unity (NUG).
According to figures released by the NUG, the army suffered at least 1,500 casualties in more than 700 armed conflicts between June and September in areas now under the most pressure, citing Myanmar Now Oct. 14.
In retaliation for these losses, the regime has raided a number of villages, forcing tens of thousands of civilians to flee, including shutting down internet access in 25 townships, which many see as further evidence of the regime's plans to carry out a possible large-scale military operation. would lead to a dramatic increase in civilian casualties.
Resistance sources also pointed to reports that Lieutenant General Than Hlaing, the junta's deputy interior minister and Myanmar Police chief, had taken over the military's Northwest Regional Command, which oversees operations in Chin, Sagaing and Magway states. territory, as an indication of the regime's focus on northern Myanmar as key to its efforts to consolidate control over the country.
Meanwhile, some local media reported that the previous commander, Brigadier General Phyo Thant, had been detained for allegedly planning to defect to the resistance forces and take refuge in areas controlled by armed ethnic groups.
According to military and resistance sources cited in a report published by The Irrawaddy last Friday, the junta has sent at least four battalions, or about 3,000 troops, to northwestern Myanmar to take part in "clearance operations" against anti-regime forces.
Myanmar Now cannot confirm these figures, but local residents and resistance sources say they have seen hundreds of trucks of Myanmar military regime forces crossing the region in recent weeks.
Separately, a deputy commander of the Chinland Defense Forces (CDF) in Chin State's Kapetlet Township said his brigade had learned that a convoy of three armored vehicles and at least 86 military trucks laden with soldiers had left Pakokku in the Magway Region Tuesday morning and headed for Kanpetlet .
"We heard they passed Pauk this morning," he said on Tuesday, referring to a town on Magway about 110km northeast of Kanpetlet.
By late afternoon, the convoy had reached the airport in Kyaukhtu, a town on the border between Chin State and Magway Region and less than 60 km from Kanpetlet, according to Chin-based media outlet Zalen News.
Four days earlier, about 40 military trucks and two armored vehicles left Gangaw on Magway and arrived at Kalay in Sagaing, according to local residents. They said two armored vehicles and 14 military trucks left for Tedim in northern Chin State the following day. Meanwhile, the remaining vehicles left for an unknown destination in northern Chin State on Monday.
On Sunday, about 30 family members of high-ranking military personnel based in Kalay were evacuated by military aircraft, according to a townspeople who spoke on condition of anonymity. The move has raised concerns that the military is planning to launch an offensive in the region soon, he added.
"There have been a lot of military planes landing and taking off recently, as well as military reinforcements and tanks. People are saying there will be serious clashes soon. So maybe that's why the families of the army personnel were evacuated," he said.
The military not only sent reinforcements to Sagaing and Chin, but also to the Yaw region of Magway, according to a spokesman for the main local resistance group, the Yaw Defense Force. The Yaw region connects Magway to Chin in the west and Sagaing in the north.
The spokesman said his group and allies were ready for a Myanmar military offensive, but needed more support from the NUG to confront an enemy who had more sophisticated weapons and didn't mind using excessive force.
"We are still in a defensive war position," he said, noting resistance forces mainly rely on ambushes and other guerrilla tactics to slow the army's advance.
Meanwhile in Pale Township Sagaing Region, a local PDF leader said the intensity of the fighting had increased and was likely to continue to worsen until one side won.
"The military has launched attacks every three or four days in our area, deploying more troops. Tensions between the insurgents and the military have been high. Until one side is heavily defeated, there will be more severe clashes," said the leader who identified himself as Naga.
The military's goal is to crush the resistance "to pieces," according to Zin Yaw, a former army captain who defected to the anti-regime resistance.
"Even if the resistance forces stop their attacks on the military forces, the military will try to destroy them," he said, noting this is the military's usual strategy when facing strong opposition.
As 'worrying' reports of military action continue to flow out of the country, UN human rights agency OHCHR has called on the international community to join forces to tackle the ongoing crisis in Myanmar.
"There has been a pattern of attacks established by the Tatmadaw (military) against unarmed individuals using lethal force, destruction of residential property, mass arbitrary detention and death in military custody," OHCHR spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters on Friday last week. then.
"We urge the international community to speak with one voice, to prevent more serious human rights violations against the people of Myanmar," he concluded.
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