Junta forces abducted 12 people, including an infant, from Ywa Ngan Township after losing four soldiers in a clash with the local branch of the People’s Defence Force (PDF) in southern Shan State.

The PDF ambushed the regime soldiers between Lwa Sin and Taung Pokwe at 4pm on 9 March and retreated without suffering any casualties, according to an anonymous source close to the civilian resistance group. The man said the Burma Army (BA) carried away their dead after the raid.

On the same day, 60 BA soldiers went to Tae Lu, Lwa Sin, Myin Kyadoh and other nearby villages in Ywa Ngan Township, where they abducted villagers, a Tae Lu resident told SHAN on condition of anonymity. After hearing gunshots, the soldiers arrived at his village, where they abandoned their three vehicles and moved on to other villages on foot.

In Nwar Bangyi, between 9 and 10 April, they abducted the baby and eight other people, two people in Lae Kai and two youths from Lwa Sin village. The soldiers also broke into people’s houses and stole things.

The PDF has asked the local community for support in their “revolution” against the military junta and their ”injustice”. After the military used violence against peaceful demonstrators who opposed the coup, some of them armed and formed PDFs or other groups to fight against the dictatorship.