A convoy of 17 military vehicles carrying rations for military council troops on the Taungoo-Leiktho-Loikaw road was attacked with mines on 5 March, damaging two vehicles, according to the Thandaung Revolutionary Force.
A local member of the resistance group said, “The 17 military trucks travelling on the Leiktho-Loikaw road were attacked with mines by the guerrilla group at the bend in the road near Kaw Bat Chan and Zale villages in the upper part of Than Moe Taung. Two trucks were damaged in the attack. The exact number of enemy casualties is not yet known. The roads are blocked and it is certain that the two supply trucks were hit.”
The convoy was on its way to the military council battalion in Leiktho to resupply rations when it was attacked with mines by the local guerrilla group near Kaw Bat Chan and Zale villages in Leiktho area of Thandaunggyi Township on the afternoon of 5 March, damaging two trucks, he said.
According to reports, some Gheba Army graduates were travelling with the convoy, but the source said the details were still under investigation.
“We have heard that Gheba Army graduates were on the trucks. The information seems to be reliable. According to our intelligence, they are fresh graduates,” he said.
After the mine attack on the convoy, the junta camps in the vicinity fired artillery indiscriminately. The shells landed in the fields near Kaw Bat Chan and Than Moe Taung villages, but there were no civilian casualties, according to a local from the Leiktho area.
“The army fired shells four or five times at the surrounding villages. The shells landed in the farms near Kaw Bat Chan and Than Moe Taung villages. But there were no civilian casualties. It was the supply trucks that were on their way to the Light Infantry Battalion 603 in Leiktho. They made their return journey the next day,” said the local.
Whether the Gheba Army graduates were actually travelling with the convoy during the attack is still being separately verified.
The Leiktho area in Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 2 has seen renewed instability since the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied groups launched offensives against junta army camps and battalions in the region in early February, according to local sources.
Sent by KIC.