Only Urban Parts of Mandalay Open for Polls as War Rages in Countryside

Voting in Mandalay on Sunday will take place only in urban wards as clashes continue in rural areas across the eight townships scheduled to go to the polls in the third and final phase of the junta-organized election.

Only three townships in Mandalay City—Chanmyathazi, Patheingyi and Myithta—remain relatively calm, but everywhere else is still riven with conflict.

In Taungtha Township, resistance forces on Jan. 18 attacked a military convoy of about 200 troops who were on their way from Kyaukpadaung to secure polling stations. A day earlier, resistance fighters also attacked a military outpost of around 50 troops in a village along the Nyaung U–Myingyan Road.