23rd May, 2021 #day112

 

At least 20 junta troops were killed, and four others were captured alive when a Karenni People’s Defence Force attacked and occupied a police station in Mongpai, southern Shan State, DVB reported. One KPDF member was killed and five others were injured. The PDF also seized several weapons, and members of the Free Burma Rangers, which provide humanitarian assistance and basic military training along the Thai-Burmese border, took part in the attack. According to local media, the military council sent armoured vehicles and helicopter gunships in response and attacked into the villages. About 10,000 locals have been displaced in Karenni State, according to a social media site of a local assisting them.

Witnesses told the Kantarawaddy Times that Pa-Oh National Organization militia, also known as the Pa-Oh White, were involved in the clashes between the junta troops and KPDF in Phekone and Nyaungshwe townships. Locals said two members of the junta and the PNO were killed and two others were wounded in the fighting, which lasted more than an hour. The PNO has denied any involvement.

A Karen church in Yangon’s Insein Township was raided and destroyed by the junta troops, and three people, including a disabled man and a pastor, were beaten and arrested. A local told Khit Thit that the troops raided the church because they believe a gunman, who shot and killed a soldier, ran towards the church yesterday. Locals told DVB that looting is on the rise in Yangon’s Shwepyithar Township which is under Martial law. The junta-appointed local administrators have also allowed many gambling dens in rural areas, local media reported.

The pro-military people formed a group called “Pyusawhti” and is threatening CDM civil servants and NLD lawmakers. This group has been compared to a formerly notorious military-backed mob “Swan Arr Shin” (masters of force). A local told DVB that this group is helping the junta troops in the cities and planning to incite violence across the country. Photos of armed members in plainclothes inspecting civilian cars and motorbikes in Mandalay city have been circulating on social media.

In his interview with Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television on May 22, the coup leader Min Aung Hlaing said Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health at her home and would soon appear in court. She has not yet been able to meet with her lawyers in person. NUG's Ministry of Defence has released a blueprint outlining the flag, visions, and Chain of Command of the People's Defence Forces. NUG’s Federal Union Affairs has also announced that the process of drafting the Federal constitution will be carried out by the National Unity Consultative Committee (NUCC).

Netizens accused a Rakhine local media outlet, Development Media Group, of inciting civil unrest between the Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims community following the DMG report describing the perpetrator in a recent rape case in Buthidaung Township as a Muslim. Many Rakhine and Rohingya people were killed during the communal violence after a young Rakhine woman was raped and killed in 2012. Khit Thit reports that clashes broke out between the junta troops and the Northern Alliance in Muse, a border trade town on China-Myanmar border.