Protesters defend themselves against forces in Kale, Sagaing region, Myanmar March 28, 2021 in this photo taken on March 28, 2021 obtained by REUTERS
Sleeping near their makeshift barricades, groups of young men on Tahan in the town of Kale in western Myanmar had expected no attack in the pre-dawn darkness.
Armed with a pair of shotguns crafted by village blacksmiths, catapults, some air rifles and Molotov cocktails, they were no match for troops hardened through decades of conflict and equipped with combat weapons.
The first barrage of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades from Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, came around 5:00 a.m. on April 7, protesters and residents of Kale said.
By evening, the one-sided battle was over, the sandbag barricades were cleared and 13 people dead, three members of the armed group told Reuters. Soldiers have been deployed on street corners and remain so far.
“So many people on our side were injured that we couldn’t do anything and had to withdraw,” Aung Myat Thu, a 20-year-old protester in Kale, told Reuters via a messaging app.
Although resistance in Kale was quickly crushed, it points to a new phase of bloodshed in Myanmar following the February 1 coup, with some protesters now trying to take up arms against the junta’s forces.
The junta did not respond to requests for comment.
Junta-controlled newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar said 18 rioters were arrested in Kale after attacking security forces with homemade weapons. “Some members of the security forces were seriously injured,” he said
Despite the early setbacks, disparate groups are trying to find better weapons, hone tactics, share information and receive training from some of Myanmar’s roughly 20 existing ethnic armed groups, several opposition politicians said.
“Some small defense units have been formed across the country, in the community, villages or neighborhoods,” said Moe Saw Oo, a spokesman for the Commission representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body representing the ousted legislators and established a rival. government of national unity.
“At the same time, we are in talks with ethnic armed organizations about establishing a good defense force,” he said.
More than 700 people have died and more than 3,000 have been detained by security forces who have cracked down on the nationwide protests that have raged since the military ousted civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1.
Even when the hunters in Kale withdrew, other groups have emerged elsewhere. Acts of sabotage, such as the burning down of administrative buildings and attacks on companies linked to the military, have broken out in the capital, Yangon, and the second city of Mandalay.
“It is a sign of the determination and extreme violence the military has used against protesters rather than a strategic assessment they can take against the army’s power,” said analyst Richard Horsey, who recently briefed the UN Security Council on the matter. the threat. of national collapse.
Among the new groups, Ayeyarwaddy’s federal army last week announced its arrival at the heart of the Bamar majority, which is at the heart of the armed forces, as well as Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.
“Armed revolution is the only way to return power to the people,” spokesman Mratt Thu Aung told Reuters via the messaging app.
He did not disclose the location of the group or the size of the force and Reuters was unable to do so independently.
‘IF WE DON’T FIGHT …’
The push to organize an armed group in Kale began in mid-March when the military stepped up violence against protests that engulfed the largely Buddhist country of 53 million people.
On March 17, police opened fire during an anti-coup rally – in which four people died – after chasing protesters to Myohla on the outskirts of Kale, a 36-year-old activist there said.
“From that moment on, people, especially the young, felt that we had to do something to defend ourselves,” he said, refusing to mention his name for reprisals against his family.
At least three barricades had been set up around the main market in Tahan by the end of March, and hundreds of people gathered to pile up sandbags. Youth in the city have banded together to form the Tahan Civil Defense Group, local activists said.
The group then raised money and started looking for weapons – mostly rudimentary hunting weapons made by local blacksmiths, they said.
“In the beginning, we had seven guns, which quickly increased to 15,” said the 36-year-old activist.
The group attended a practice session in a nearby forest on March 26. Two days later, the Tahan Civil Defense Group held off an attack by junta forces. Soon after, it combined with other local groups to form the Kalay (Kale) Civil Army.
Such groups were receiving assistance from the CRPH across the country, a group official said.
Several thousand young people had received basic training in weapons and combat from at least four ethnic armed organizations, mainly in Myanmar’s border regions, he said.
“More to come,” he said, refusing to be mentioned. “If we don’t fight, Myanmar’s future will be over.”
‘DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE TATMADAW’
In Kale, the little trained hunters were encouraged by the early success.
The 19-year-old hunter said he was sleeping between barricades on the main road through Tahan when he was awakened by gunfire.
“I got my shotgun and two soldiers started firing at me,” he said. “I had one chance to shoot back, but my gun didn’t work.”
He hid behind a wall, then fled during a break.
The Tatmadaw systematically advanced and blocked escape routes, a resistance member in Tahan said.
“We don’t understand the Tatmadaw mentality,” said the 43-year-old from a hiding place. “That’s our mistake.”
Several young fighters were among 13 dead at the end of a day of fighting, activists said.
Survivors were now in hiding, they said.
“We were no longer safe in Kale,” said the 19-year-old hunter by phone from northeast India, whose border is just over 100 km away. Indian authorities declined to comment.
A local NLD legislator involved in the formation of the Kalay Civilian Army said fighters had been asked to lay down for the time being, while equipment and training were improved across Myanmar.
“Maybe the time will come to fight the Tatmadaw,” said the legislator, “we need proper training for that.”
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