Airstrikes continue in TNLA-controlled areas of northern Shan State

At least twelve people including a child were killed in assaults by the junta air force on areas held by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in northern Shan State over the past two days, local sources said. Two people were killed and two injured on Wednesday when a junta warplane bombed populated neighbourhoods in Mongngawt, a TNLA-controlled town in Kyaukme Township. “A woman and a man in their 50s died when bombs landed in three residential wards,” said a man from an area controlled by the TNLA, also commonly called the Ta’ang army. “An 18-year-old girl and another man in his 50s also sustained injuries,” the man added. Several houses were also damaged in the aerial assault, which occurred at around 11am. There was no reported fighting near the town of Mongngawt, roughly 15 miles north of Kyaukme, a town which was recently recaptured by junta troops last week. The Ta’ang armed group captured six towns in northern Shan State including Monglon and Mongngawt in Kyaukme Township during the first phase of Operation 1027, a large-scale anti-regime offensive which began in late 2023. At least ten people, including a two-year-old boy, were killed on Tuesday when a junta airstrike hit a house in Maik Huong village some 36 miles west of Kyaukme, local sources said. “Five women, four men, and a boy were killed after bombs hit a house where villagers were gathered for a donation ceremony a day after the Thadingyut Full Moon Day,” a man from the TNLA-held area said. On the same day, a monastery in Namtu was hit by junta aerial assaults, damaging at least four buildings inside the monastery compound. Earlier aerial bombings had killed four people and injured six others in Namtu, as well as killing two men in Hsipaw and two children in Namhsan over the next five days. Airstrikes on Namtu and Hsipaw townships last week also injured three people, including a child, according to the TNLA. The military regime has escalated airstrikes on the remaining towns under the Ta’ang armed group’s control since recapturing the town of Kyaukme, which is located on a crucial trade route linking central Myanmar to gates on the Chinese border. “The attacks appear to be aimed at intimidating local communities,” a man connected to resistance forces in the area said. “It forces them to avoid towns under the Ta’ang army’s control and relocate to Kyaukme and Lashio, which are under the regime’s control, to secure votes during the election.” The Myanmar junta has been planning to hold elections in all areas under the military’s control in late December and January. “For the Ta’ang army, this situation poses both political challenges and the possibility of criticism and pressure,” the resistance associate said. With Namtu and Hsipaw increasingly targeted by junta assaults, locals said many residents have fled to areas under the control of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, another ethnic armed group, or to Lashio, which has been under junta control since earlier this year.

Airstrikes continue in TNLA-controlled areas of northern Shan State

Intensifying aerial bombings in northern Shan State appear consistent with a junta strategy to induce local populations to move to areas under their control, where they plan to hold elections by the beginning of next year

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