TANINTHARYI DIVISION – In Tanintharyi Township, battles broke out between Joint People’s Defence Forces and the junta council troops, and the military tension is high, according to the local People’s Defence Forces.
Local PDFs said that at around 9:00 a.m. on May 17, the junta council infantry column, going from Bang La Mout Village towards Yang Pho Village, was attacked with mines in 433 valley. “I heard there were about ten junta casualties. The exact detail is not yet clear,” a member of local PDFs said regarding the mine attack and the subsequent situation.
There was no exchange of fire in this operation, so there were said to be no casualties on the side of the PDFs.
In addition, at about 8:00 a.m. on May 17, the junta council infantry column advancing towards Theindaw Village from Thakyat Village got into a skirmish against the PDF joint forces at Innchaung (local name) west of Bang Pyae Village, according to local revolutionary forces. The details of the skirmish and which groups joined the attack are not yet known.
Residents said that before the shooting happened, there was no phone nor internet connection in Bang La Mout Village.
“I couldn’t even make a call in the morning. Only starting from noon, phone and internet connections resume a little,” a local said. In Tanintharyi Township, the bandwidths of phone and internet are reduced in villages of Leyew, Taku and Bang La Mout where there are frequent attacks.
On May 7, a junta convoy was attacked with mines on the Myeik-Tanintharyi Pyidaungsu Highway. Therefore, in order to avoid harm to travellers, the local PDFs have issued a notice not to travel on the Myeik-Tanintharyi Road between 8:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.