Nov. 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –
At least 20 soldiers and seven militiamen have died since last November 2 in clashes with the Theinni People’s Defense Force (PDF) in the Shan state, in northern Burma. In addition, there would be 60 soldiers and 20 militiamen wounded.
The PDF has reported that the fighting began after the start of military patrols in the Hseni-Hopan region, according to the newspaper ‘Irrawaddy’, which warns that it has not been able to verify the militia’s figures.
The PDF is one of the few armed groups created in the Shan state after the 2021 coup d’état and the area is one of the areas that has experienced the least armed conflict since the beginning of the revolt against the Armed Forces.
The armed group has added that it has requested weapons from the National Unity Government formed after the coup d’état, but that for the moment it has not received any aid of this type.
“The villages are behind our main base, so we are going to fight to the death to protect them,” the PDF said in a statement released Monday.
The Burmese opposition accuses the junta of the death of almost 2,400 people in its repression operations since the February 1, 2021 coup and estimates that more than 12,000 are illegally detained awaiting trial, according to the NGO Association for Burma Political Prisoners (AAPP).
The initial protests against the coup have led to the formation of armed resistance groups and the reinforcement of the ethnic militias already present in the country before the coup.
