A civil defence group fighting the regime in Burma’s Sagaing Region has asked that the public not release information about real-time battles with the military because it can jeopardise operations.
”We’d like to ask people not to post news about battles in Katha Township on social media because we don’t want our operation to be leaked before it’s completed,” the People’s Defence Force (PDF) said in a statement on its Facebook page Monday. It promised to post information on the interim National Unity Government (NUG) Ministry of Defence as soon as it’s safe to do so.
The civilian resistance group also urged people to exercise extreme caution if they’ve to travel on the road between Katha and Bhamo, where fighting broke out recently.
According to the NUG’s Ministry of Defence, Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the PDF killed 40 Burma Army (BA) soldiers in a landmine attack on a military column near Moe Der tract village tract in Katha Township on 20 September.
“I heard that there were about 70 soldiers in the military column, but only 10 escaped the attack,” a local close to the Katha PDF told KNG.
It’s not possible for KNG to independently confirm the information about Katha Township.
The township serves as a strategic location for BA to send reinforcements to Kachin State from Sagaing Region.
KIA Battalion 5 (Brigade 8) maintains troops in the region, which lies on the banks of the Irrawaddy River near Kachin State, and provided basic military training to youths and others who joined the PDF sometime after the 1 February coup.
