Protesters defend themselves from troops in Kale, Sagaing region, Myanmar, on March 28, 2021 in this image of March 28, 2021 obtained by REUTERS
Sleeping next to their makeshift barricades, knots of youth in Tahan, in the western city of Myanmar, Kale, had not expected any attack in the darkness of dawn.
Armed with some hunting weapons made by village blacksmiths, catapults, some air pistols and Molotov cocktails, they were no rival to forces hardened by decades of conflict and equipped with combat weapons.
The first clash of rocket-propelled grenades and grenades fired by the Myanmar army, known as the Tatmadaw, arrived around 5 a.m. on April 7, protesters and residents in Kale said.
By evening, the unilateral battle was over, sandbag barricades had been cleared and 13 people had been killed, three people involved in the armed group told Reuters. Soldiers were deployed on street corners and remain so far.
“So many people on our side were injured that we couldn’t do anything and we had to withdraw,” Aung Myat Thu, a 20-year-old protester in Kale, told Reuters from there via a messaging app .
Although resistance in Kale was quickly crushed, it points to a new phase of bloodshed in Myanmar after the February 1 coup, with some protesters now seeking to take up arms against junta forces. .
The board did not respond to requests for comment.
The board-controlled Global New Light newspaper of Myanmar said 18 riot police were arrested in Kale after attacking security forces with homemade weapons. “Some of the members of the security forces were seriously injured,” he said
Despite early setbacks, disparate groups are trying to get better weapons, sharpen tactics, share information and get training from some of the dozens of existing ethnic armed groups in Myanmar, several opposition politicians said.
“Small defense units have been formed across the country, community, villages or neighborhoods,” said Moe Saw Oo, a spokesman for the Committee representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body representing expelled lawmakers. which has created a rival government of national unity.
“At the same time, we are in coordination with ethnic armed organizations on the establishment of an adequate defense force,” he said.
More than 700 people have been killed and more than 3,000 detained by security forces cracking down on protests across the country since the military ousted civilian-led civilian government Aung San Suu Kyi. February 1st.
Although Kale fighters were retreating, other groups have emerged elsewhere. Acts of sabotage, such as the burning of administrative buildings and attacks on army-linked businesses, have erupted in the main city of Yangon and the second city of Mandalay.
“It is a sign of the determination and extreme violence that the military has used against protesters rather than a strategic assessment they can make of the strength of the military,” said analyst Richard Horsey, who recently reported to the UN Security Council on the threat of national collapse.
Among the new groups, Ayeyarwaddy’s Federal Army announced its arrival last week at the Bamar majority center, which forms the core of the armed forces, as well as Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.
“The armed revolution is the only way to return the power of the people,” spokesman Mratt Thu Aung told Reuters through the messaging app.
It did not disclose the location of the group or the size of its strength and Reuters was unable to do so independently.
“IF WE DON’T FIGHT …”
Pressure to organize an armed group in Kale began in mid-March when the army intensified violence against the 53 million Buddhist protests that scattered the country.
On March 17, police opened fire on a rally against the coup (killing four people) after chasing protesters in Myohla on the outskirts of Kale, a 36-year-old activist said.
“From that moment on, people, especially the youth, felt that something had to be done to defend us,” he said, refusing to give his name in retaliation against his family.
In late March, at least three barricades were set up around Tahan’s main market, and hundreds of people gathered to pile up sandbags. City youths came together to form the Tahan Civil Defense Group, local activists said.
The group raised funds and searched for weapons, mostly rudimentary hunting weapons made by local blacksmiths, they said.
“At first we had seven weapons, which then increased to 15 in a short time,” the 36-year-old activist said.
The group headed to a white practice session in a nearby forest on March 26th. Two days later, the Tahan Civil Defense Group halted an assault by junta forces. Shortly afterwards, he combined with other local groups to form the Kalay (Kale) civilian army.
These groups were receiving CRPH help across the country, a group official said.
He said several thousand young people had received basic training in weapons and combat from at least four ethnic armed organizations, mainly in the border areas of Myanmar.
“They get there more,” he said, and turned down the name. “If we don’t fight, the future of Myanmar is gone.”
“YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND THE TATMADAW”
In Kale, poorly trained fighters were encouraged by the early success.
The 19-year-old fighter said he was sleeping between barricades on the main road through Tahan when the shots woke him up.
“I grabbed the shotgun and two soldiers started firing at me,” he said. “I had a chance to pull back, but my gun didn’t work.”
He took refuge behind a wall and then fled during a lull.
A member of the Tahan resistance said the Tatmadaw was systematically advancing and blocking escape routes.
“We don’t understand Tatmadaw’s mindset,” the 43-year-old said from a safe house. “This is our mistake.”
Several young fighters were among the 13 dead at the end of a day of fighting, activists said.
The survivors had gone underground, they said.
“We were no longer safe in Kale,” the 19-year-old fighter from northeast India, whose border is just over 100 km (60 miles away), said by phone. Indian authorities declined to comment.
A local NLD lawmaker involved in the formation of Kalay’s civilian army said the fighters had been asked to go down for now, while equipment and training were improved across Myanmar.
“Maybe the time will come to fight the Tatmadaw,” the legislator said, “for that we will need good training.”
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