Junta flotilla travelling up the Ayeyarwady terrorises Sagaing Region villages

Subscribe to the Myanmar Now daily newsletter. It's free. Sign up > Civilians living near the Ayeyarwady River in Katha Township, Sagaing Region said they were forced to conduct panicked evacuations of their villages Wednesday as warships travelling past the township fired on riverbanks. Military vessels that departed from Mandalay on August 28 reportedly reached Katha by September 2, then reportedly continued northwards to the Tha Hpan Kaing riverport a few miles north of the town. As they docked at the port, some ships started to load and unload goods, while others provided cover by firing shells from the river. A woman living in Katha said the villages about three miles north of the town were under such intense fire that the area had effectively become a war zone. “On the outskirts of Katha, in Ward 10, two ships docked at that port are firing on the riverside villages,” she said on Wednesday. “They’re using both heavy and light weapons. While they're firing, planes are also circling overhead.” She went on to say that villagers from Paw Ma Myaing, Na Lel Inn and Kat Pa Leik are fleeing to Katha or to other villages farther from the river. “People from the riverside villages are now fleeing, including almost everyone in Kat Pa Leik village,” she said. “We don’t know the numbers now because of the ongoing shelling. Everyone is taking shelter wherever they can. Some are fleeing by motorbike, some by boat.” At around 10:30am, resistance forces advanced towards the bank, aiming to attack the junta ships as they continued firing artillery from the river. However, they were forced to retreat when junta aircraft flew in, according to a member of the Katha People's Defence Organization. “We went to attack because these guys were firing indiscriminately. One ship was supposedly hit, but we couldn't keep up our fire for long because fighter jets came,” he said. He added that there may have been casualties on both sides during the Wednesday morning attacks, but that precise details were not available. The ships reportedly continued firing as they left the port, and junta aircraft reportedly bombed Pa La Shwe village—located opposite Katha’s urban wards on the east bank of the river—as the flotilla navigated away, with soldiers continuing to fire from the ships as they left. “Bullets hit riverside houses in Ward 1 in Katha, damaging the walls and brickwork and even flowerpots,” said the woman from Katha. If the junta ships continue upstream along the same route from Katha, they will reach Shwegu and then Bhamo, Kachin State, the site of intense fighting in recent months. Bhamo is approximately a day’s journey by boat from Katha, according to some locals. A military vessel near Pauktaw early this year (Photo - Western News) The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and allied resistance forces control a swath of territory extending about six miles east and five miles south of Bhamo, raising the potential for clashes between them and the junta forces. Resistance members believe the junta is trying to carry reinforcements, ammunition, and supplies by river to aid in defending the town of Bhamo, the location of their Military Operations Command 21 headquarters. In the past three days, at least 11 locals in Tigyaing and Katha townships have been killed by shelling from the junta vessels on the Ayeyarwady or by airstrikes from junta warplanes escorting the flotilla as it moves upriver. The military, which has been steadily losing ground throughout the country, is unable to establish full control over the routes into Kachin State and has come to rely more on water routes, using every means available to protect their ships.

Junta flotilla travelling up the Ayeyarwady terrorises Sagaing Region villages

Residents fled from riverside villages in Katha Township as junta forces used artillery and airstrikes to protect junta warships moving upriver, likely on their way to Bhamo, Kachin State with supplies and reinforcements

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