NarinjaraNews, March 14, 2023

The clashbetween Military Council troops and local defense forces occurred on March 11thin the valley of Kuyin village situated in Pekon township, sharing a border withthe Shan-Kayah (Karenni) region.

Accordingto Pekon PDF Battalion 2, during the battle they seized 19 bodies, includingthe platoon commander of the Military Council, 6 soldiers captured and held asprisoners of war, and seized a large cache of arms and ammunition.

“On March11 there was a battle at around 10:00 a.m. On the Military Council side, 19 soldiersincluding the platoon commander were killed. 6 soldiers were captured alive. Onour side, 2 comrades were injured. It is not serious. On March 12, one of our comradeswas killed,” said a member of the local defense forces.

The battleresulted in the seizure of two RPGs, one 60mm mortar, two commando mortars,seven MA 1/MA2/MA3 rifles, one sniper rifle, one 9mm pistol, and one MG 3 machinegun.

In additionthe Pekon PDF Battalion 2 also reported the seizure of 2 communication devices,30 boxes of ammunition, 10 grenades, 10 landmines, 20 rifle grenades, 30 RPGshells, 3,000 rounds of 5.56 ammunition, 500 rounds of AK ammunition, and 1,500bullets for the MG 3 machine gun.

At midnighton March 12, another skirmish erupted between PDF scouts in a forested area andthe retreating Military Council troops, one member of the PKPDF2 lost their lifein the exchange.