6 Soldiers Dead in Drone Attack on Military Council Checkpoint in Kyaikhto Township, Mon State
The Pa-Oh People Defense Force-Kham Dom (PPDF-KD) has reported that on March 29, a drone attack by joint revolutionary forces killed six soldiers from the Military Council at their checkpoint station located at the Mokepalin Road intersection in Mokepalin Village, Kyaikhto Township, Mon State.
According to a comrade of the PPDF-KD, the joint revolutionary forces, including the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade-1, People’s Defense Force (PDF), Kyaikhto Revolution Force (KRF), and PPDF-KD, carried out a drone attack in response to the expansion of military forces and repression of the people at the Military Council checkpoint station.
“The Military Council gate oppresses the people. Also, it was reported that the military force had been expanded that day. When we attacked with the drone, 2 were killed instantly and 4 others were dead later,” he told KIC.
PPDF-KD has released a statement claiming that following the drone attack on the Military Council checkpoint at the Mokepalin village road, another drone attack was carried out at 3:30 p.m. on a Military Council gate station located near the Letpanpin cemetery in Ingapo village.
According to a comrade from PPDF-KD, the drone attacks on both the military gate station and the checkpoint resulted in the Military Council responding by firing artillery shells from locations such as Winkalaw into nearby villages.
“After the attack, in the evening, they fired artillery shells into nearby villages. They fired from Winkalaw, Kinmunchaung, Letpanpin. The damage is still being investigated,” he said.
According to a statement released on March 22 by KNU-Doo Tha Htu district, Infantry Battalion-2 and Light Infantry Battalion 2, based in Kyaikhto, as well as Artillery Battalion 602 and Artillery Battalion 310, have been frequently launching artillery shells into Kyaikhto Township, Thaton District in the territory of KNU Brigade 1. These attacks have resulted in explosions in several villages including Zeepyaung, Winkan, Pyinkatoekone, Kyaukphyarm, Ahlu, Hngetpyawtaw, and Winkalaw, causing civilian casualties and hardships for their livelihoods.
While the revolutionary forces have been publishing updates on the deaths of Military Council troops during these attacks on their social media pages, no statements or updates have been released by the Military Council yet.
