Burmese anti-coup fighters briefly seized several border outposts after junta-aligned militia defected and joined the rebels, sparking days of heavy clashes, state media reported yesterday.
Fighting has ravaged swathes of the country since the military’s 2021 putsch, with some established ethnic rebel groups training and fighting alongside newer People’s Defence Forces (PDF) against the junta.
Rugged Kayah state on the border with Thailand has become a resistance hot spot, hosting thousands of democracy protesters-turned-PDF fighters.
Photo: AP
Five border posts in the state guarded by Border Guard Force (BGF) troops had come under “massive attacks” from anti-coup fighters from June 13 to Monday last week, state media said.
Border Guard Forces are made up of former ethnic rebels now working with the military in exchange for local autonomy and lucrative business rights.
They are often deployed side by side with regular troops.
Communications with a BGF post in Pantain, southeast Kayah, were cut for several days, the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
Fighters at the BGF post “had betrayed the state and the Tatmadaw [military] by launching a rebellion” and joining anti-coup fighters, the report said, without specifying how many had defected.
The defectors had taken weapons and ammunition with them, the report said.
Backed by air and artillery strikes, the military retook the post at Pantain on June 17, it added.
Another BGF post in Sukpaing was recaptured on Tuesday.
The military had suffered casualties in officers and other ranks, it said, without giving details.
Dozens of junta troops had defected, said the opposition National Unity Government, which is made up mostly of ousted lawmakers and is working to overturn the coup.
PDF groups have surprised the military with their effectiveness, analysts have said, and have dragged the military into a bloody quagmire.
In February, the junta said that it did not “fully control” more than one-third of the country’s townships.
Yesterday, a bridge on a highway linking commercial hub Yangon with the Thai border was mined and partially destroyed, local media reported.
A drone attack on soldiers and officials inspecting the damage killed two and injured dozens, said a military source who did not want to be named, as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Battling fierce opposition on the ground, experts have said the military is resorting to artillery strikes and air power.
On Tuesday, a military airstrike on a village in northern Sagaing region — another hotbed of resistance to junta rule — killed 10 civilians, locals and media reports said.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS