More than 3,000 displaced by Myanmar junta raids in Magway’s Pwintbyu Township

More than 3,000 people remain displaced in Magway Region’s Pwintbyu Township following two days of junta raids on villages near the township’s administrative centre, local sources said. At least five villages were deserted amid fighting that began late last week in the wake of the raids, which saw at least 22 people from two villages west of the town of Pwintbyu detained. “Seven people from Yay Poke Ka Lay were captured while trying to flee and around 15 men from Nyaung Pin Zauk were abducted while hiding near their farms,” a local resident told Myanmar Now. Both villages are located about five miles west of Pwintbyu. The fate of the detainees, who were reportedly taken to Kyaung Kone Gyi, a village under the control of the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia, is still unknown. Clashes broke out on February 5 as resistance forces intercepted junta troops from Kyaung Kone Gyi advancing on Yay Poke Ka Lay, less than three miles to the southwest. “Fighting continued throughout the day in Yay Poke Ka Lay,” said a member of a Pwintbyu-based resistance group. “Both sides struck each other using drones and heavy artillery on Thursday.” The next day, the junta column pulled back to Kyaung Kone Gyi after suffering heavy casualties, but not before torching at least 13 houses in Nyaung Pin Zauk, sources said. The column reportedly consisted of troops from Infantry Battalion 10 stationed in Saku, a town in neighbouring Minbu Township, as well as Pyu Saw Htee members and personnel from a military-run cotton cultivation unit. At least three resistance groups under the command of the National Unity Government (NUG), as well as a local independent group, are active in Pwintbyu Township. Pwintbyu was among six townships that saw frequent fighting under the oversight of the NUG’s Magway Regional Command during regime-orchestrated elections that concluded last month. “The situation in Pwintbyu is volatile, with clashes taking place every month. Even if junta troops do not advance into our area, we attack their outposts first, although we face ammunition shortages,” a local resistance fighter said. Meanwhile, the military is trying to secure a stretch of road linking Pwintbyu to Salin, a town about 16 miles to the north. The road is part of a 41-mile route connecting Pwintbyu to Seikphyu, where a junta armaments factory producing aerial bombs is located. NUG-led resistance forces have been targeting regime-held towns and bases in Magway Region since late last year as part of an ongoing offensive.

More than 3,000 displaced by Myanmar junta raids in Magway’s Pwintbyu Township

The raids and ensuing clashes between regime and resistance forces have left at least five villages deserted

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