At least 20 Burma Army (BA) soldiers were killed after the junta’s forces advanced on civilian resistance groups in southern Shan State last week, a member of the Pekon People’s Defence Force (PDF) told SHAN.

Last Friday, 5 November, fierce fighting broke out in Pekon (Paikhun) Township between the military and PDF fighters from the area and Loikaw, Demawso and Mobye (Mongbye) supported by Karenni Nationalities Defence Force and the Karenni Army.

According to the PDF source from Pekon, at least 15 BA were wounded in the clashes near Set Taw in Hkawng Ei village tract. “Our troops killed some BA soldiers, but we do not know how many… We found blood at one of the places of the clash, but we have not examined the entire area yet.”

“There were also some deaths on our side and some of our members sustained minor injuries,” he said.

A local told SHAN the BA fired artillery shells at the resistance groups during the battle, which began in the morning and ended in the afternoon.

A day earlier, civilian resistance groups reportedly killed 20 soldiers during fighting in the township.