Five local militia members killed in Sagaing region’s Budalin township

Myanmar’s military council troops killed five members of a People’s Defense Force (PDF) in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region on Tuesday morning.

Around 80 members of the military council’s 33^rd Division then stormed Pe Pyit Taw East village in Budalin township, arresting 20 locals, mostly women, and burning five houses.

One member of the local PDF told RFA the junta troops took them partly by surprise.

“We were waiting for the military column as we had received the information [they were coming]. However, the troops came from the north when we expected them to come from the south… The battle lasted about 10 minutes,” the PDF member said.

Locals said the junta troops had left and were heading towards Chaung Mee To village.

They said more than 1,000 people from five villages in Budalin township had fled their homes due to the military council offensive.

Residents also said internet access and phone lines had been cut in the township.

RFA has not been able to independently verify the incident and the State Administration Council (SAC) has not released any statement on it.

Sagaing region has seen some of the fiercest fighting between junta forces and PDFs since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup.

Last month troops adopted scorched-earth tactics for nearly two weeks in the townships of Kawlin, Kanbalu and Kyunhla, killing at least 12 civilians and burning more than 500 houses. The attacks forced more than 20,000 residents in the to flee their homes for safety.

A report by  the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar (ISP-Myanmar) said 641 battles had been fought in Sagaing region between February 2021 and last month, accounting for more than 10% of the clashes recorded across the country since the coup.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) said on Monday 2,273 people had been killed by the junta across Myanmar in the past 19 months.