Junta offensive in Mandalay Region leaves 13 dead, displaces 20,000

At least seven civilians and six resistance fighters have been killed since early August in a sweeping junta raid on resistance-held areas of Myingyan Township in Myanmar’s Mandalay Region, local sources said. Three people died on August 9 after junta troops backed by local pro-junta militias carried out arson attacks on Ba Lon, a village less than five miles east of Myingyan, the largest town under the control of the military in Myingyan Township. “An elderly woman suffering from a stroke died when her home caught fire in an arson attack carried out by junta troops and pro junta militias,” a man from a nearby village told Myanmar Now. Sources also said junta troops killed a 40-year-old man, inflicting a fatal throat wound. His body was found near the northwestern entrance to Ba Lone village. That same day, a five-year-old boy died in a junta drone strike while fleeing his village with his family.On the same day, heavy fighting erupted in the village of Kan Sint after a separate junta column advanced into the village, located less than two miles south of Ba Lone, according to sources who spoke to Myanmar Now.“It was one of the fiercest battles I’ve faced in my lifetime,” a man from Kan Sint village told Myanmar Now. “It lasted about three hours. And the military warplane dropped bombs for about an hour.” He added that the military had superior firepower, including heavy artillery and air support. Resistance fighters had no choice but to retreat as they were running low on ammunition, he explained.A junta junta battalion unit from Kan Sint advanced toward the village of Let Tha Mar Kan, located near the border of Myingyan and Natogyi townships, according to local resistance forces.Myingyan and Natogyi townships, both in Mandalay Region, sit along a strategic corridor on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River. Myingyan town itself remains under firm junta control, serving as a military hub for operations deeper into central Myanmar. Surrounding rural areas, however, have been heavily contested since the 2021 coup, with local People’s Defence Force (PDF) units and allied resistance groups mounting guerrilla attacks on regime positions. Since early August, the military regime has launched a large-scale offensive, sending three columns of troops into resistance-held areas about four miles east of Myingyan, a junta-controlled town on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River. Two of the columns advanced along the main highway linking Myingyan with Natogyi, raiding four villages on both sides of the road. Clashes erupted for five days, starting near the Tha Mone Kaing village after resistance fighters blocked junta troops from advancing into the area. Sources told Myanmar Now that at least six resistance fighters were killed in the fighting as the military regime stepped up its attacks, deploying gyrocopters, paramotors, and jet fighters. Three people, including a pregnant woman and her 10-year-old daughter were shot dead by junta troops in Myauk Kone village on August 4. More than 20,000 people from at least 13 villages have been displaced by ongoing junta raids in Myingyan Township since early August. The remaining two columns of junta troops that have merged are stationed in Khin Ma Kan and Tae Taw villages along the Myingyan–Natogyi route, about four miles northeast of Myingyan, according to local sources. Residents fear the soldiers could use the villages as a base to launch further attacks, prolonging instability in the area.

Junta offensive in Mandalay Region leaves 13 dead, displaces 20,000

Troops backed by pro-junta militias have carried out arson attacks, airstrikes, and heavy shelling in Mandalay Region, driving tens of thousands from their homes

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