(Based on staff articles from the KHIT THIT MEDIA’s Facebook in June 2023.)
Normally 800 to 1000 strong army infantry battalions
are now reduced to average 200 to 300 while some frontline battalions are as
weak as just over 100 troops. Myanmar Army’s attrition rate is so high as the
individual desertions and wholesale surrenders have rapidly accelerated.
Most of the
northern areas (except their respective capital cities) such
as Kachin State, Chin State, Magwe Division, and Sagaing Division are basically
controlled by respective ethnic armies and NLD’s PDFs. Kayah State capital
Loikaw is being evacuated as the the rebel forces surround the city.
Myanmar Army is also basically running out of cash as the brutal US sanctions of Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank MFTB started biting deep into their US$ income and reserves. Exchange rate jumps from 2200 Kyats/US$ to over 3,500 as the exports and imports are suddenly stopped.
Also the highly expected civil war in Russia and probable assassination of Dictator Putin will implode the Min Aung Hlaing’s regime not unlike the Titanic Submersible. China also is pressuring the Myanmar Army to find a compromise solution while the sympathetic military government in Thailand lost the election just recently. Min Aung Hlaing’s mad days as the last dictator of Burma definitely are numbered.
Whole Battalion LIB-430 Surrendered
Yangon, June 25:
Revolutionary sources said that LIB-430 with more than 100 troops from Malse-Byuha-Kone
Army Base in Karenni State have surrendered to the Revolutionary Forces.
Silver Media, a local revolutionary news media,
reported that the whole army battalion including the Commander Lieutenant-Colonel
Zarni Aung and his Deputy Commander Major Kyaw Thu Soe from LIB-430 have surrendered.
Revolutionary
sources said that the news was true when Khithit Media contacted the revolutionary
sources of Yangon regarding this news. "The news is true. But I'm not
allowed to talk about it. I don't have the right to answer either. Awaiting official
announcement from relevant parties," says the revolutionary source.
Yangon Modern
News Department has asked other revolutionary news sources about the surrender
of the entire LIB-430 battalion. The batch came to light. The battalion commander
and his deputy surrendered while they were outside their camp. And the remaining
forces in the camp later surrendered. More than 100 weapons were captured by
the rebel forces.
But The Myanmar Army
has shamelessly denied the surrender news and claimed the battalion commander
is now attending the senior officer school while his whole battalion is stil in
their trenches holding their strategic hill on ThaiMyanmr border.
Karenni BGF battalions Fighting Against Myanmar Army
An armed group
that was serving as a Border Guard Force (BGF) under the command of Myanmar’s
military has confirmed that it took part in a series of raids on regime targets
in eastern Karenni (Kayah) State last week.
Troops from the
Karenni National People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF) were among the allied
resistance forces that attacked a police station and three military outposts in
the state’s Mese Township on June 13, a member of the group’s central committee
told Myanmar Now.
“Two BGF
battalions took part in the fighting in accordance with the KNPLF’s
directions,” said the central committee member, who spoke on condition of
anonymity. It was the first time that the group—which broke away from the
Karenni Army (KA) in 1978 and later signed a ceasefire with the military before
becoming a BGF in November 2009—has acknowledged a role in fighting the Myanmar
military since it seized power in February 2021.
The two
battalions in question—Battalion 1004, based in Pan Tein in Mese Township, and
Battalion 1005, based in Ywar Thit in Bawlakhe Township—are among around 20
controlled by the group in Karenni State.
Both battalions
fought alongside troops from the KA, the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force,
and the People’s Defence Force in last week’s coordinated attacks in Mese Township,
which borders Thailand. According to another source close to the group, junta
troops embedded in the BGF with the KNPLF fighters have also turned against the
military.
Despite its
longstanding ceasefire agreement, the group has had tense relations with the
military over the past two years. On February 12, 2021, less than two weeks
after the coup, the KNPLF issued a statement condemning the military takeover.
However, it did not make any move at the time to join the anti-regime resistance
movement.
Later that year,
four members of Battalion 1004 were killed by regime forces when they attempted
to intervene on behalf of civilians who were later burned to death in Karenni
State’s Hpruso Township on Christmas Eve.
That incident
may have contributed to reports that the KNPLF had turned its guns on the
military as early as last year, but it wasn’t until earlier this month, after a
column of around 200 troops based in Hpasawng Township crossed the Salween
(Thanlyin) River into Mese Township, that the two sides began to engage in open
hostilities.
Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) Sanctioned By US
BANGKOK/WASHINGTON,
June 21 (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on
Myanmar's defense ministry and two banks used by the ruling military junta to
buy arms and other goods from foreign sources.
The U.S.
Treasury Department said in a statement the military has relied on foreign
sources, including Russian entities under sanctions, to purchase and import
arms, equipment and raw materials to manufacture weapons to support its
"brutal repression". Washington accused the defense ministry of
importing goods and materiel worth at least $1 billion since the 2021 coup in
which the military leaders seized power.
State-owned
Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank
(MICB), were also hit with sanctions. The Treasury said they allowed
revenue-generating state-owned enterprises, including Myanma Oil and Gas
Enterprise (MOGE), access to international markets. The banks receive and
transmit foreign currencies for Myanmar's government.
"Burma’s
military regime has leveraged state-run access to international markets to
import weapons and materiel, including from sanctioned Russian entities, to
continue its violence and oppression," the Treasury's Under Secretary for
Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in the statement.
The United
States and other Western nations have imposed several rounds of sanctions on
Myanmar's military leaders since they seized power in a coup in 2021,
overthrowing the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and
killing thousands of opponents in a crackdown.
A spokesman for
Myanmar's military junta ahead of the announcement said it was not worried
about any new sanctions. General Zaw Min Tun (aka Zaw Mae lone) told the state
media channel MWD on Tuesday the country has experienced sanctions before and
they will not face losses if there are new ones on Myanmar state-owned banks.
The Bangkok
Business News, cited Thai sources as saying the sanctions would hit Thailand
and other countries in the region financially because of their connections with
local banks. The U.S. Embassy said it had regular conversations with the Thai
government on Myanmar including how to mitigate the impact of any sanctions on
Thailand or other countries.
Experts say the
sanctions on the banks, while short of targeting gas projects that are a big
source of revenue for the junta, could have an impact on the junta’s ability to
fund its war against ethnic groups and insurgencies.
A February
report by campaign group EarthRights International said the two banks were the
Myanmar government’s "foreign currency treasuries" and were now under
junta control. It said the junta relied on foreign currency to buy jet fuel,
parts for small arms production, and other supplies that could not be bought
with the Myanmar kyat, EarthRights said.
"As a
result, sanctions against MFTB and MICB could contribute substantially to
cutting off the junta’s access to foreign currency, especially if combined with
strong enforcement," it said.
