Burmese residents, major opposition alliances, and media have reported that Burmese armed resistance groups seized a regional capital on Monday (November 6th). After four days of attack, they occupied the regional office and a police station.
This town is Kawlin in Sagaing Province, the first administrative capital occupied by resistance forces since the military overthrew the government of Aung San Suu Kyi and seized power in February 2021.
Shigeru has always been an important stronghold of armed resistance organizations, and the military dispatched ground troops with the support of artillery and air strikes to launch large-scale attacks here, burning down villages and driving hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes.
The loosely organized resistance group People's Defense Army (PDF) emerged throughout Myanmar after the military seized power. They formed an alliance with ethnic minority armed groups such as the Kachin and Karen ethnic groups that have been fighting for autonomy in border areas for over half a century.
Gaolin Town is located approximately 200 kilometers north of Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, and is the main town in Gaolin District.
Online reports from media sympathetic to the resistance struggle say that at least three local armed groups, including the Gaolin People's Defense Army, launched coordinated attacks, and the fighting began at dawn on Friday.
Videos posted online by news media such as' Khit Thit Media 'show members of the resistance organization cleaning up dead military and police bodies in damaged buildings.
The Associated Press is unable to independently verify the details of local battles.
But a resident interviewed told the Associated Press over the phone that resistance militants seized the Gaolin Police Station on Sunday evening, occupied the town administrative office at 7:30 am on Monday morning, and then occupied the entire town. The resident requested anonymity because he was afraid of being arrested by the military.
He said that the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) under the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) also participated in the battle.
He said that the intense military air strikes and shelling in recent days have stopped on Monday, and resistance organizations are preparing for new attacks.
He said that more than 20 military members and three members of the resistance organization died during the conflict, and civilian deaths during the conflict are still being counted.
Another resident who requested anonymity for security reasons said that approximately 30000 civilians were evacuated into forests and nearby villages by resistance groups to avoid casualties caused by air strikes.
The Myanmar National Unity Government posted a statement on Facebook stating that resistance fighters have occupied the police station, the General Administration Office, high schools, the Land Management and Statistics Office, and the Myanmar Commercial Bank.
The statement states that this is the first administrative capital to be attacked and occupied.
During the battle, local internet and mobile services were almost completely cut off.
More than ten residents who withdrew from Gaolin Town told the Associated Press that they had been unable to reach their loved ones who were still in town since Saturday evening.
A week ago, the Three Brotherhood Alliance launched an offensive against the military government, occupying three towns in northwestern Myanmar, including a major border port for trade with China.
The sudden action of this alliance composed of Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and Ta'ang National Liberation Army is seen as strengthening the national armed struggle to overthrow the military regime.