A local people defense force (PDF) ambushed Min Buu police station last night and injured a number of policemen. A couple of grenades were thrown into the station which led to back-and-forth firings before PDF retreated. Sources close to the police station said there were casualties on regime side but the exact number was unknown. Regime’s forces have been harassing the public increasingly in the town and last night’s attack was the response for such actions, a spokesman for local PDF told Mizzima news.
A local PDF station in Mahlaing Township of Mandalay Region was also raided by junta’s forces on August 26. Thankfully, people’s forces had already fled the scene when junta’s soldiers arrived. Weapons and food rations were seized instead.
Villagers from Tinthar Village of Sagaing Region experienced yet another cruelty of regime’s soldiers this afternoon. They started with committing arson to a CDM teacher’s house before ransacking many other houses including a local political activist’s. This has been the fourth time the 2000-household-village was targeted by junta’s forces. Also on August 26, about 100 soldiers came in to the village and shelled at least 10 artilleries into the civilians’ houses.
A strike rally in Mandalay was cracked down this afternoon, resulting in a number of arrests and casualties. Junta’s forces arrived at the protest location in plain clothes and private cars before shooting and abducting protesters. A number of young activists were snatched and a girl was reportedly shot in the foot. The exact number and identities of those detained are still unknown. Motorbikes were also seized by junta’s thugs. Eleven youths from Mogok who were arrested two weeks ago for supposedly being related with ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) have not been heard again until today. Local police station told the families that they had no idea where the detainees were kept.
Regime’s atrocities continued in many forms. U Hla Myint, a former organizer of National League for Democracy (NLD) in Khin Oo Township of Sagaing Region was abducted this afternoon around 2pm. A local source told DVB that U Hla Myint used to be a NLD’s organizer, but he had not been active recently and his family had been struggling economically these days. In the same region, a CDM clerk was also arrested in Butalin Township today. Ko Chu, the former general clerk, used to participate in protests and opened a betel nut shop since he joined CDM. A local source told DVB that somebody must have tipped off junta’s forces for personal grudges against Ko Chu.
Three explosions took place in Hlaing Township of Yangon this afternoon. A bomb was sett off in a military factory and nearby residents heard gunshots afterwards. Other explosions took place near Hlaing’s electricity supply compound and in front of a KBZ bank near Ywar Ma Kyaung Street traffic junction. One makeshift bomb also exploded near a Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP) office this afternoon. No casualties were reported from all incidents.
Junta announced yesterday that Dalan/military informers will be rewarded with payment starting 500,000 MMK for tipping information on anti-regime activists, PDF and CDM. Dalans have been very effective for junta in conducting extreme atrocities against the public. The announcement is welcomed by netizens who even suggested that dalans should be rewarded handsomely and deserve to be honored in newspapers with their information etc. That will save some work for whoever looking for military informers.
Twelve underground guerrilla groups from Yangon and Mandalay have joined forces to fight off junta. Since local PDF has been formed in early April, this recent alliance has become the largest, combing prominent teams from Yangon and Mandalay. It was announced on August 24 that four local PDF such as CDF Mindat, CDF Kanpatlat, CNO and ZFU have also become alliances in Chin State. It was reported in the news that the 79-year-old U Mahn Johnny, the former Minister for Ayawaddy Region, have joined a PDF and become the oldest solider of the people side. The Karen ethnic man has spent his life as an educational worker and a politician and he is now set to take up arms and looks ready to fight the military dictatorship that is almost as old as him.
