The Kalay People’s Defence Force (PDF) is fighting the regime every day after it deployed hundreds of forces in a major offensive against the civilian resistance group in southern Kalay Township.

An officer with the PDF, who declined to give his name, told Khonumthung News that the group and the Chin National Defence Force have been fighting with nearly 300 Burma Army (BA) soldiers patrolling Nat Chaung and Nat Myaung villages along the Kalay-Gangaw highway in Sagaing Region.

Since 14 March, “they’ve launched a clearance campaign against us after sending food rations and military equipment from Kalay town to their Hanthawaddy camp in southern Kalay Township,” he said.

According to the PDF officer, 20 soldiers from a BA convoy were killed and a truck damaged when the soldiers detonated their hidden landmines three times between Si Thar and Nat Myaung.

Following the deaths, the regime shelled nearby villages with artillery and set fire to 30 houses in the two villages.

Between Chaung Kwa and Aung Chan Thar, a sniper from the resistance killed 7 BA, after which the regime retaliated again by shelling the area with artillery.

The junta has launched a large-scale clearance campaign to evict resistance fighters in Chin State and Sagaing Region since the autumn.

The groups have killed many BA soldiers in ambushes, despite being vastly outnumbered and poorly armed.