2021 Mandalay Boarding House Raid | |||||||
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Part of Myanmar civil war (2021–present) and internal conflict in Myanmar | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
At least 20 soldiers and three armored vehicles [1] | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
At least 8 killed (PDF claim); [2] some serious injuries (SAC claim) [3] | At least 8 killed or captured (SAC claim); [2] 6 captured (PDF claim) [1] |
On 22 June 2021, the Tatmadaw raided a former boarding house used as a safehouse for the Mandalay People's Defense Force. [4] According to military sources such as Myawaddy TV, Tatmadaw forces killed four PDF fighters, arrested eight others, and seized various weapons. The military also claimed that a white car occupied by four guerrillas conducted a failed ambush attempt before all of them were killed when they crashed into a transformer. [3]
However, the PDF claimed that only six of their members were arrested by the Tatmadaw while eight soldiers died. [2] [1]
The Tatmadaw or Sit-Tat is the military of Myanmar. It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include the Myanmar Police Force, the Border Guard Forces, the Myanmar Coast Guard, and the People's Militia Units. Since independence in 1948, the Tatmadaw has faced significant ethnic insurgencies, especially in Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Kayah, and Shan states. General Ne Win took control of the country in a 1962 coup d'état, attempting to build an autarkic society called the Burmese Way to Socialism. Following the violent repression of nationwide protests in 1988, the military agreed to free elections in 1990, but ignored the resulting victory of the National League for Democracy and imprisoned its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The 1990s also saw the escalation of the conflict involving Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State due to RSO attacks on the Tatmadaw forces, which saw the Rohingya minority facing oppression and, starting in 2017, genocide.
The Karen National Liberation Army is the military branch of the Karen National Union (KNU), which campaigns for the self-determination of the Karen people of Myanmar. The KNLA has been fighting the Burmese government since 1960s as part of the Karen conflict, which has been ongoing since 1949.
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