Five junta soldiers were killed and others were wounded in fighting with a combined force of people’s defence force (PDF) groups in Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region at about 4:00 a.m. on 15 October.

The fighting started when a large contingent of junta infantry soldiers were ambushed with two mines near to the village of Uyingyi, in Dawei Township.

“The junta troops were attacked near to a small bridge between Shitmaing and Uyingyi villages in Dawei Township”, said an official from the Dawei Township PDF, one of the groups involved in the attack.

“After the mine attack some junta soldiers were hit and went down. We exchanged gunfire before we had to retreat because we did not have enough weapons”, he continued.

After the attack, the junta took villagers from Uyingyi Village and the area of the attack as hostages, before entering the villages of Uyingyi, Ahnyarhpyar and Darthwaykyauk and randomly opening fire with artillery from those villages.

On 16 October members of the PDF groups that carried out the attack returned to the area of the attack and recovered two 60 mm mortar shells, 74 rounds of M-16 ammunition and shell casings left by the junta troops, according to an official from Dawei PDF