A 20-year-old medic with the Underground Lightning Guerrilla Group died in a heavy artillery blast in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region, the anti-junta militia said in a statement.
Su Mon Htet was on a frontline mission to treat comrades injured after they launched a mine attack on troops Sunday, the group said.
“On the morning of Feb. 5, twelve junta troops -- including an informant -- were killed in mine attacks on a junta column,” the guerrilla group’s spokesman Bo Mone Daing told RFA.
“The junta column with more than 40 soldiers picked up the dead bodies. The female medic Su Mon Htet was hit when the troops opened fire with ammunition and heavy artillery ... ammunition on our side was limited, so we couldn’t fire back.”
Su Mon Htet died on the spot, the spokesman said. She was cremated and her remains buried in Sadaung township on Sunday evening.
As many as six members of the Underground Lightning Guerrilla Group, fighting alongside the Ohn Taw Dragon GZ militia, were killed according to Bo Mone Daing.
Two years of intense fighting in Sagaing region have left many People’s Defense Forces severely short of weapons and ammunition. Many groups fight with hand-made guns which often backfire, killing or injuring troops.
Last Wednesday, three pro-democracy fighters died in a battle in another Sagaing region township as they ran short of ammunition.
The shadow National Unity Government says around 3,000 people have died nationwide in the two years since the military seized power from them in a coup. Almost half of them were freedom fighters, including many teenagers.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.