The junta set up artillery and increased security near one of Myanmar’s most renowned pagodas, Shwe Set Taw (Golden Footprint) Pagoda in Minbu Township, Magway Region on 9 December 2024.
Extra junta troops were deployed in the area to reinforce security following skirmishes with resistance forces that began in the second week of November.
“Most of the newly deployed troops were junta-aligned Pyu-Saw-Htee militia, sent from Saku Town [in Minbu Township] to patrol roads leading to Shwe Set Taw Pagoda. Groups of three or four soldiers were stationed along these routes,” a local living near the pagoda said.
Around 100 junta troops from Padan Village Tract in Ngape Township, Magway Region and approximately 50 from Saku Town have been stationed at the pagoda since November. On 9 December an extra 80 Pyu-Saw-Htee troops arrived to reinforce security.
In November resistance forces also killed the administrator of Mann Shwe Set Taw Yar Pagoda Village who was helping the junta to make revenue from Shwe Set Taw Pagoda.
Following his killing junta soldiers set up artillery near to the pagoda and started indiscriminately shelling and launching drone strikes on nearby areas.
The junta exploits pagodas in various ways to extract revenue from them.
An annual Shwe Set Taw Pagoda festival normally begins in Mid-February. But, the opening date of the 2025 festival has yet to be announced as the tender process for organising the event is still ongoing.
On 30 November, 10 junta soldiers were killed by defence forces at the Three-Mile checkpoint on the road to the Shwe Set Taw Pagoda, according to Battalion 6 of the Minbu District People's Defence Force (PDF).
