At least three regime soldiers were killed by drone attacks carried out in the Sagaing Region town of Ye-U on Wednesday, according to resistance sources.
The attacks targeted a military checkpoint in the western part of the town and a traditional medicine hospital where a number of junta troops were stationed, according to a Shwebo District People’s Defence Force (PDF) information officer.
“We have solid intel that three of their soldiers were killed at the traditional medicine hospital, but we still don’t have any details on the attack on the Shwe Kyee Min checkpoint,” the PDF information officer told Myanmar Now on Thursday.
Resistance scouts saw several injured soldiers being transported by car and motorcycle to Ye-U’s main hospital after the attack, he added.
He also said that the drones that were used to drop explosives on the regime forces returned undamaged, despite attempts to shoot them down.
Anti-junta forces active in the area also carried out a similar attack on Ye-U’s central police station on June 19, but casualty figures from that incident were not available.
Large numbers of junta troops have been stationed at strategic points around Ye-U since the town became a focal point of protests in the wake of the February 2021 coup.
According to resistance sources, soldiers have set up fortified checkpoints at each of the town’s four main points of entry and have also taken over schools and other public buildings.
Junta forces stationed in the town are responsible for assaults on villages not only in Ye-U Township, but also in Taze, Depayin, and western Shwebo townships, the anti-regime groups said.
In addition to carrying out raids on villages, the soldiers have also indiscriminately fired on the surrounding countryside with heavy artillery, they added.
Ye-U Township is one of 14 townships in Sagaing Region that have been placed under martial law since the military seized power nearly two and a half years ago.
Indaw, Banmauk, Kawlin, Pinlebu, Myaung, Salingyi, Pale, Yinmabin, Khin-U, Taze, Shwebo, Ayadaw and Wetlet townships are also currently under direct military control.
On Thursday, there were reports of houses being torched by regime forces in several villages near Ye-U, including Yauk Thwar Ai, Htanaung Kaing, Shar Lwin, Kalalu, Tamoke, and Kone Gyi.
According to a June 14 report by Data for Myanmar, junta arson attacks have destroyed more than 70,000 houses around the country, including more than 54,000 in Sagaing Region.
The region also accounts for a disproportionate number of internally displaced persons (IDPS). The UN refugee agency UNHCR estimates that there are a total of more than 1.8 million IDPs in Myanmar, including 763,100 from Sagaing Region alone.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a total of 564 clashes, drone attacks and remote attacks were recorded throughout Myanmar last month.
Of these, 164 took place in Sagaing and neighbouring Magway Region, according to the UK-based think tank.
