Myanmar: Reports of 15 or more killed after nationwide uprising

A villager and reports by independent media claimed that around 15-20 villagers, including several teenagers, have been killed in some of Myanmar’s deadliest fighting since July between government troops and resistance forces.

The fighting near Gangaw township in the north-western Magway region started on Thursday. 

This was two days after a call for a nationwide uprising was issued by the National Unity Government, which is an opposition organisation that seeks to coordinate resistance to military rule.

The fighting took place when more than 100 troops arrived in four military vehicles.

This was to secure the area in Myin Thar and five other nearby villages, a resident told the Associated Press by phone.
Also, members of a lightly armed village self-defence militia fired warning shots. 

However, they could not stop the soldiers from entering the area and clashes continued after that, said the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity to safeguard his security.

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The National Unity Government’s call on Tuesday for a “people’s defensive war” has received an enthusiastic response on social media, but its actual impact on the ground is hard to measure.

The media sympathetic to the opposition reported an outburst of small-scale shootings and sabotage by the resistance, particularly the toppling of mobile phone transmission towers.

However, similar activities have been happening for several months and the details are difficult to independently verify.

The villager who have described the new fighting said that at least 11 members of the self-defence group were killed, according to what others in his village told him. 

Photos of what has been described to be their bodies circulated widely Friday on the internet, and were clear enough to be identifiable to those familiar with them.