A military helicopter fired on villages in eastern Depayin Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday following clashes between army troops and anti-junta resistance groups, according to local sources.
An officer of the Depayin Township Brothers resistance group said the airstrikes hit several villages located near the west bank of the Mu River. A military Mi-35 helicopter flew over Mu Ka Twin, Nyaung Hla and Thit Ton villages on Tuesday morning, opening fire three or four times, according to the officer.
According to local sources, it was still unconfirmed whether there were any casualties from the airstrikes at the time of reporting.
The day before the aerial assault, a junta column of around 100 soldiers had advanced into Depayin Township from its base in Ye-U, a town located a few miles to the north. The soldiers clashed with resistance groups near the village of Letyetkone on Monday and between Mu Ka Twin and Nyaung Hla the next day.
Thousands of locals from at least 10 villages in the eastern part of the township, including Letyetkone, Nyaung Hla and Mu Ka Twin, have reportedly fled the junta assaults since Monday.
“Villagers fled once the military left Ye-U yesterday morning. They were firing off heavy artillery at random, and only some elderly and mentally disabled people stayed in the village,” a Letyetkone resident said.
The junta soldiers reportedly looted and ransacked houses on Monday night while they were stationed in Letyetkone, but the extent of the damage is still unconfirmed as the residents have been unable to return home, according to the Letyetkone resident.
The convoy’s occupation and looting of Letyetkone was the latest of several attacks on the village since the military coup of 2021.
A combined airstrike and ground assault on Letyetkone village resulted in the deaths of 13 civilians, including schoolchildren, in September of last year. Hundreds of houses in the village have also been destroyed in arson assaults by junta troops.
The junta forces’ advance into the township was a response to resistance groups’ attacks on regime outposts in the urban area of Depayin earlier this month.
According to data collected by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 1.9 million people have been displaced by conflict throughout Myanmar as of September 8. Over 800,000 of the displaced people were from Sagaing Region.
