21st-22nd August, 2021

 

Yangon-based guerrilla groups told Myanmar Now that the public need to be prepared as urban war is inevitable. They claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks at a military-owned garment factory in Hlaing Township and a police station in Hlaingthayar Township. There was a shooting near the Bayintnaung Bridge today, killing at least one policeman, Khit Thit reported. Yangon residents wrote on social media that many grocery stores are running out of food and commodity prices are rising due to reports of D-day and urban war. 

The junta troops continue to defect in groups. Thirty-six soldiers, who fled the Magway Air Force Base in the morning of 21 August, are now in safe area, according to the People’s Spring social media page. The airbase was attacked with bombs on 8 August, damaging 4 to 6 fighter jets. In addition, on 19 August 19, five soldiers guarding a mining company in Kaolin Township, Sagaing Region, fled with their weapons, according to The 74 Media. More than six months after the coup, a CDM captain told the Irrawaddy that about 1,500 soldiers and 500 police have already participated in the CDM.

In Karenni State, the KNDF has announced that the junta troops will be rewarded if they surrender with their guns. People close to the CDF-Mindat in Chin State write on social media that three soldiers surrendered with their weapons since the CDF-Mindat had announced the reward of 50 lakhs for those who fled with weapons.

In Hpakant Township, Kachin State, the junta has cut off internet connections since the night of 20 August, according to the BBC. The internet blockage has also disrupted financial services and raised concerns among locals that fighting could intensify soon. Mizzima reports that U Si Thu Aung Myint, a detained journalist, and Ma Htet Htet Khaing, a freelance correspondent for BBC Media Action, have been charged under Section 505 of the Penal Code and Section 17 (1) of the Unlawful Association Act.

A man and his wife, a nurse, were shot dead by the junta troops on 21 August in Khin Oo Township, Sagaing Region, leaving a three-year-old child behind, relatives told Mizzima. On 19 August, a young man was shot dead on the spot and two others died during interrogation, according to Khit Thit. A 72-year-old man, who was brutally beaten by the junta troops on 18 August in Gangaw Township, Magway Region, also died on 21 August, a villager told Khit Thit.

On 20 August, the junta troops arrested the parents of Zaw Win Min, a CDM police sergeant who had fled with his gun, in Yinmarpin Township, Sagaing Region, according to DVB. The junta announced that more than 20 members of the Mandalay PDF were arrested with weapons on 21 August. However, Mrat Kyaw Thu, a freelance journalist, wrote that only seven Mandalay PDFs were actually arrested and other detainees are not affiliated with the PDF.

Khumi Media Group reports that 10 Chin people who escaped from AA military training on 16 August in Pichaung, Paletwa Township, Chin State, have now reached safety. They fled because they had been forced to attend the training and mistreated during the training, relatives said.

The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Representative Committee (CRPH) released a statement, saying it strongly condemned the approval of the junta delegation as an observer at the 42nd session of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. The Speaker of the Brunei Legislative Council is the current president of the AIPA.