Fighting escalates in Sagaing Region as Myanmar junta struggles to hold, recover ground

Thousands of civilians have fled their homes in the past week as clashes intensified between resistance and junta forces in Sagaing Region’s Kalay, Kani, Katha, and Wetlet townships, according to resistance and local sources. At least 10,000 locals have been displaced from Kani Township on the southwest bank of the Chindwin River since Saturday, when the junta carried out airstrikes in response to resistance fighters’ attacks on a police station, an administrative office, a high school, and the Shwe Si Gone hilltop military encampment. The day before in Kalay Township—located around miles to the northwest—some 3,000 residents were displaced in and near Hto Mar village, where clashes have been ongoing since February 21, according to the Kalay Township People’s Administration Team (PAT). PATs operate under the publicly mandated, anti-junta National Unity Government (NUG), a cabinet formed and endorsed by ousted elected leaders to oppose the coup regime after the military seized power in Myanmar in 2021. The military deployed a Mi 35 combat helicopter to carry out aerial attacks during the clashes in Kalay Township, according to resistance members, but no civilian casualties have been reported. Around a dozen junta soldiers have been killed in the fighting in Kalay Township, according to the resistance fighters based there. Myanmar Now was unable to confirm these casualty figures independently. Resistance forces also rescued at least 144 Kalay University faculty, personnel, and students on February 26 after initiating an assault on junta troops stationed on the university campus, the NUG said in a public statement. About 180 miles to the southeast, resistance forces launched a predawn attack on junta positions in Ha Lin village, Wetlet Township on Saturday, according to a spokesperson for the township’s People’s Defence Forces (PDF). Around 50 junta soldiers had been stationed near a hilltop pagoda in the village, the spokesperson said, but declined to give further details about the clash. In Katha Township, which shares a border with northern Shan State, junta troops have held their position in Pyin Htaung Lay village despite a series of assaults by the Katha Township PDF on February 27 and 29. The column of troops stationed in the village had initially advanced into the area from Mabein Township, northern Shan State before coming under attack by resistance fighters. Another junta infantry column had withdrawn from Myo Hla village, Kalay Township on February 26, leaving its base to be taken over by resistance forces. This second column later joined forces with the troops that had advanced from Mabein Township into Pyin Htaung Lay village, according to the Katha Township PDF. The clashes, during which junta warplanes provided air support, displaced at least 800 residents from two villages in Katha Township, local sources said. While occupying Pyin Htaung Lay, soldiers burned down several civilian houses, according to the same sources. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that as of February 2024, over 2.7 million people have been displaced throughout Myanmar, and that 18.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance nationwide.

Fighting escalates in Sagaing Region as Myanmar junta struggles to hold, recover ground

The battles, during which the junta has repeatedly carried out airstrikes to support their ground forces, have displaced thousands of locals from several townships across Sagaing Region

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