The anti-junta Moebye People’s Defence Force (MB-PDF) in southern Shan State attacked a security outpost of the Myanmar army’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 422 on Saturday morning, a PDF officer said. 

The resistance force had waited from 1am until 6am to launch the ambush on the unit, according to a statement claiming that at least three soldiers were killed in the 30-minute clash. 

Aung Min, a battalion commander in the MB-PDF, told Myanmar Now that the junta forces retaliated by firing heavy artillery in their direction, forcing the fighters to eventually retreat. Two members of the guerrilla group were reportedly injured, with one in critical condition. 

Myanmar Now has yet to confirm the details of the Saturday battle. 

The military has not released a statement on the incident.

LIB 422 occupies an area near the Balu Chaung hydroelectric power plant in Karenni State’s Loikaw Township and also guards the Moebye Dam, which is the primary source of water to the plant.

The MB-PDF reportedly attacked another checkpoint in the area on May 12 that was jointly manned by Myanmar army soldiers and members of the Pa-O National Army. The move prompted the junta troops to block roads east of Moebye Dam, Aung Min said. 

“The situation in Moebye is very likely to get much more serious. The military might launch assaults very soon,” he added.

He added that the junta’s forces had already attacked villages on the border separating Moebye and Loikaw, including the communities of Wah Yee Kaw Khu and Sao Kan.

On Friday, the PDF chapters in Karenni State’s Demoso and Hpruso townships reported carrying out a collaborative ambush of the central police station in Demoso, resulting in two casualties on the military’s side and three members of the resistance suffering injuries, according to a statement. 

The raid took place farther from the Karenni forces’ usual field of operations than any previous mission

The time has come to cut off the regime’s single largest source of revenue for its war on Myanmar’s civilian population

Among Myanmar’s state-owned entities, MOGE represents the single largest source of revenue for the regime and has been identified by pro-democracy activists as a key enabler of its human rights abuses. 

Two Western oil companies—the American company Chevron and France’s Total Energies—withdrew from a collaborative energy development project with MOGE in January 2022 citing concerns about violence and human rights violations in Myanmar. However, the EU is the only entity that has imposed legal sanctions against MOGE to date. 

Despite this criticism, JFM spokesperson Yadanar Maung hailed the new sanctions as a needed step towards inflicting costs on the junta and stopping the enablement of its atrocities against Myanmar’s people. 

“We welcome the latest round of sanctions from Australia, Canada, the UK and USA, which target military conglomerates, state-owned enterprises illegally controlled by the junta, and the military’s jet fuel supply chain,” she said in the statement. 

The action makes the European bloc the first international entity to introduce such a measure, since previous sanctions have excluded Myanmar’s oil and gas industry

When asked whether the new sanctions were likely to succeed in exerting pressure on the Myanmar military,  Chollet addressed potential doubts about their effectiveness. 

“We think it’s very important to try to ensure that the junta has fewer ways to acquire arms, to generate revenue, and to gain legitimacy. And we believe that that’s why sanctions against individuals and entities that are critical to the junta’s ability to generate revenue and acquire arms are very important,” the State Department official said. 

Chollet also emphasised the costs inflicted on junta officials. 

“And we have seen, by the way, the sanctions have had an effect on the junta—the economy last year in Myanmar contracted by nearly 20 percent.  We’ve seen investors fleeing. We see foreign currency reserves dwindling.  And we see it becoming harder for the regime to acquire arms… They’re having to take more extraordinary steps to steer clear of sanctions,” he explained.  

Also on the US list of sanctioned entities was the junta-controlled election commission, which has been preparing to hold a vote designed to legitimise the regime’s claim to power. The designation came a day before military council chief Min Aung Hlaing announced an extension of the declared state of emergency in Myanmar, which could require postponing the planned elections.

Australian foreign minister Penny Wong announced legislative amendments on Tuesday applying sanctions to 16 individuals in or connected with the junta, including coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, and two military conglomerates: Myanmar Economic Corporation and Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Company Limited. 

Australia had previously prohibited trade with Myanmar in arms or related military equipment, but had not changed its regulations regarding business with Myanmar nationals since 2018, despite urging from activists to implement sanctions against the junta after the 2021 coup. 

The new rules targeting the regime are targeted, prohibiting business with specific individuals or entities implicated in human rights violations or corruption, in contrast to broad sanctions imposed on a country and its population as a whole. 

This was the first instance of Australia applying new sanctions to targets in Myanmar since the coup.  

“My judgement is that the time has come for sanctions,” Wong said in a public statement, citing the military’s refusal to abide by international measures aimed at abating the conflict in Myanmar. 

“Australia will continue to monitor the regime’s actions. We will be looking to see improvements for people on the ground and moves towards the restoration of democracy, including credible elections,” she added. 

The Canadian and UK governments’ sanctions took direct aim at suppliers of jet fuel to the Myanmar military, which has enabled indiscriminate aerial attacks by the military causing hundreds of civilian fatalities. 

Canada’s new regulations included a blanket prohibition on the trade of aviation fuel with Myanmar, added as an amendment to a preexisting arms embargo. The UK imposed sanctions on the entities Asia Sun Trading Company Limited and Cargo Link Company Limited, both known suppliers of fuel to junta forces. 

While welcoming the new sanctions, JFM spokesperson Yadanar Maung urged further action, calling on all four governments to sanction MOGE and adopt a total ban on the supply of jet fuel to Myanmar, and appealing to Asian democracies–namely Japan, South Korea, and India–to join the Western governments in sanctioning the junta. 

Governments must now announce sanctions on the country’s oil and gas to prevent other companies funding the junta, Justice For Myanmar said