Around 9:30 AM on January 6th, the Burma Liberation Democratic Front (BLDF) initiated an attack on the Junta soldiers deployed as security guards for China’s Wanbao Company In Salingyi Township Sagaing Region, a BLDF member Ko Ant Gyi told Mizzima.

"We employed three sniper rifles to strike soldiers in bunkers and the main guard outpost. Our operation resulted in one enemy soldier being killed, while two others suffered serious injuries. Moreover, the enemy responded by firing at us from the auxiliary guard towers”, he told Mizzima.

In a joint operation between BLDF, Salingyi GZ, Brother Army, and Monywa District 25th Battalion, the resistance comrades successfully withdrew unharmed. The casualty status of the Military Council could not be independently verified by Mizzima.

On August 17th last year,  the General Strike Coordination Body (GSCB) reported that the Military Council, along with Wanbao and Yangzi companies, were trying to revive the previously suspended copper mining project at Letpadaung hill in Salingyi Township since mid-2022. This controversial project was strongly opposed by the local community during the NLD- led government prior to the 2021 coup.

After the incident, witnesses reported that Military Council soldiers conducted searches, and extorted pedestrians passing through the vicinity. The Military Council troops providing security for Wanbao company have faced repeated attacks from the resistance forces in the past.

GSCB (the General Strike coordination Body) alleges that the two companies are helping the Junta to revive the mining project against local opposition, and permitting the Military Council's deployment within the company's compounds to conduct artillery shelling on surrounding villages. GSCB has warned that these actions have rendered the two companies complicit in the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Military Council.