Myanmar junta air raids continue in Sagaing’s Pale Township

Myanmar’s military continues to carry out airstrikes near the crash site of a fighter jet downed by resistance forces in Sagaing Region’s Pale Township last week, according to local sources. Active fighting zones near Kant Daunt and Inn Ma Htee, two villages west of the junta-controlled town of Pale, were targeted on Wednesday morning, a displaced man living in the area told Myanmar Now. “Both a fighter jet and a Y-12 aircraft dropped bombs this morning. We have to find a safe place to take shelter,” said the man from the nearby village of Min Taing Pin. Local sources said the initial airstrike came shortly after 8am. The Y-12 aircraft arrived soon after, dropping at least 30 bombs near the two villages. There were no confirmed casualties at the time of reporting. Four junta fighter jets also carried out aerial assaults on Sa Par Sayt and Min Taing Pin on Saturday, injuring at least two men, according to local sources. “A man from Min Taing Pin and a [junta] soldier who defected to the resistance sustained injuries in the airstrike at around 11am,” a resistance fighter who assisted survivors of the attacks said. At least 10 houses in Min Taing Pin and two more houses in Sa Par Sayt were also damaged in the junta aerial assaults. Clashes in the area began on June 2, when anti-regime forces led by the People’s Liberation Army began launching attacks on a junta outpost in Kant Daunt, situated along the Pale-Gangaw highway near the border between Sagaing and Magway regions. Kant Daunt is located around three miles west of Inn Ma Htee and about six miles south of Zee Phyu Kone, villages controlled by pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militias. On June 10, a fighter jet crashed near a monastery in Sa Par Sayt, a village some six miles northeast of Kant Daunt. The PLA said it shot the aircraft down amid clashes with junta ground troops. At least four charred bodies were found at the crash site, according to local resistance forces. Junta airstrikes have reportedly killed at least five civilians, including three elderly people, and injured more than a dozen in Pale Township since June 3. Two schools and several houses were also damaged in recent aerial attacks in the township. A source close to local resistance forces told Myanmar Now that two Mi-17 transport helicopters, guarded by a Mi-35 combat helicopter, arrived near Inn Ma Htee with reinforcements shortly before 1pm on Wednesday. “A Mi-35 helicopter provided cover and a Y-12 aircraft is also dropping bombs at the same time,” the source said. The regime also airlifted reinforcement troops to In Ma Htee last week to provide support to junta troops in Kant Daunt, but they were intercepted by local resistance forces. At least 10,000 people from 20 nearby villages have fled their homes amid the ongoing fighting and are struggling with food shortages. “We are having a hard time to find food as the fighting continues for two weeks,” the displaced man from Min Taing Pin said.

Myanmar junta air raids continue in Sagaing’s Pale Township

The area, near where a regime fighter jet was downed last week, has been the scene of ongoing clashes since early this month

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