Myanmar Spring Chronicle – Scenes from February 17
(MoeMaKa) February 18, 2026
Clashes Between Anti-Junta Resistance Forces in Pale Township, Sagaing Region
News that battalions under the Yinmarbin District command of the NUG launched an early-morning attack today against units of the Burma National Revolutionary Army (BNRA), which is active in Pale Township and nearby Yinmarbin areas of Sagaing Region, has become a headline story across nearly all media outlets today.
Criticism has emerged asking whether resistance armed groups that are fighting the military junta have now reached the point of fighting one another. Are they treating each other as enemies instead of focusing on the common enemy — the military dictatorship? Many have also questioned whether weapons and ammunition purchased with public donations collected amid great hardship are now being used against each other, wasting resources and costing lives.
Since the early days of the Spring Revolution around April–May 2021, before the NUG was able to formally organize armed units in Sagaing Region, village-based and multi-village local defense forces had already emerged. Initially formed as village defense groups, these forces later became better armed as donations increased and as they were able to procure weapons and ammunition from northern and northeastern Myanmar. As a result, regionally powerful forces like the BNRA emerged, capable of operating across entire townships rather than just single villages.
Because the NUG was slower to organize formal forces in Sagaing compared to these locally formed groups, it required political and organizational skill to unify and incorporate the self-organized defense forces that had arisen after the coup. The NUG’s structure prioritized elected representatives from the 2020 election and former NLD officials, which reportedly led to tensions with leaders of already-established local defense forces.
Disputes between Bo Nagar and U Zaw Htet — an elected MP from Pale Township who serves as head of the Pale People’s Administration under the NUG — have been reported in the media for over three years.
Rather than focusing on how to integrate local armed groups with NUG-aligned PDF units, conflicts were often framed as personal disputes. Some battalions under Bo Nagar that had been operating under the NUG later cut ties with the NUG Ministry of Defense, reportedly citing irregular support.
Subsequently, disputes frequently arose over taxation checkpoints established in resistance-controlled areas and over logging activities in Yinmarbin District, Sagaing Region.
As the revolution has dragged on, public donations have become insufficient to sustain armed groups’ needs for food, weapons, and ammunition. Many groups have relied on revenue from resource extraction permits and taxation checkpoints on roads connecting villages and towns. As NUG-aligned PDF battalions also came to depend on taxation and resource revenues like local groups, conflicts over taxation rights and logging activities emerged, including instances of obstruction and arrests. The disputes between armed groups increasingly took on the character of conflicts driven by economic interests.
Regarding the recent clashes between BNRA and NUG forces, the NUG side stated to media outlets that action was taken due to alleged criminal activities and abuses against civilians committed by BNRA units. They said the Ministry of Home Affairs initiated the action but required support from Ministry of Defense forces due to insufficient manpower.
Reports about the February 17 fighting indicate that 10 BNRA members were killed, according to Bo Nagar. It was also reported that NUG-aligned PDF battalions attacked two checkpoints in Poppa and Chin Pyi villages in Pale Township using heavy and small arms.
Some reports say BNRA requested assistance from YDF and GZA. However, it remains unclear whether those allied groups have become directly involved in the current fighting.
With several hundred to around one thousand NUG PDF and People’s Defense Force troops reportedly participating — equipped with a full range of weapons — attacking the bases of a local resistance force, many observers warn this could damage the success of the Spring Revolution. Other armed groups not involved in the conflict have urged an immediate ceasefire. A spokesperson for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Comrade Ni Ni Kyaw, also called via social media for the fighting to stop immediately.
At a time when the political and military momentum of the Spring Revolution has slowed, armed clashes between resistance groups risk undermining public confidence and hope in the revolution.