Junta airstrikes kill teenage girl in northern Shan

Myanmar’s military has launched airstrikes in Namhsan Township over the past two days as part of an escalating offensive against the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), in a push to retake Hsipaw, a key trade hub on the route to China in northern Shan State, local sources said. A teenage girl was killed and five others were injured on Tuesday when a junta warplane dropped multiple bombs on Ong Ma Sum village, about 10 miles south of Namhsan, a TNLA-controlled town in the Palaung Self-Administered Zone, local residents said.“A 16-year-old girl died and her younger sister also injured her right arm and leg,” a man from the TNLA-controlled area told Myanmar Now. “Another three children under the age of 10 and a man in his 30s were also injured.” At least eight houses in the village were damaged in the attack which occurred at around 7:30 am. Amid intensifying clashes in Hsipaw Township, the military regime has escalated its air assaults on territories held by the TNLA, also known as the Ta’ang Army. Pro-junta telegram channels claimed that junta troops seized a TNLA-held position near Kyin Thi Bridge, about eight miles southwest of Hsipaw on Monday. Photographs circulated on Tuesday, showing junta troops posing for pictures near the entrance of Baw Gyo Pagoda, some four miles to the outskirts of Hsipaw. But junta troops remain stalled at TNLA-fortified positions near the villages of Nar Hke and Man He — both about three miles from Hsipaw, according to local news site Shwe Phee Myay. A day earlier, a junta warplane carried out bombings on a school in Kayah village, less than six miles north of Ohng Ma Sum village in Namhsan Township, injuring a 19-year-old boy, according to the Ta’ang Women’s Organization. At least two school buildings and several homes were damaged in Tuesday’s attack, the TNLA said. Earlier this month, junta airstrikes on nearby Zei Kon Huong village killed two children and injured six others. A group of buildings were damaged at a school compound hit in a junta air raid in Namhsan Township, Shan State on October 14, 2025. (Photo: TNLA) After seizing Kyaukme from the TNLA in early October, the military pressed on with a counteroffensive to retake Hsipaw, about 16 miles to the east. The two towns, captured by anti-junta forces during the second phase of Operation 1027 in mid-2024, sit on a key trade route linking Mandalay with Muse on the Chinese border.The latest escalation underscores the military’s determination to reclaim control over northern Shan State’s strategic trade corridor, even at the cost of mounting civilian casualties. As fighting intensifies around Hsipaw, residents fear more air raids and ground assaults could follow, further endangering civilian communities.

Junta airstrikes kill teenage girl in northern Shan

The strikes come as junta forces advance on Hsipaw, a strategic trade hub near the Chinese border, escalating fighting with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army

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