Myanmar junta airstrikes hit TNLA-controlled town in northern Shan State

Myanmar’s military carried out three airstrikes on the northern Shan State town of Namhsan on Monday, killing one person and injuring another, according to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). The group said that a regime warplane dropped at least six bombs on a residential section of Namhsan, which has been under TNLA control since late last year, shortly after midnight on Monday. “A 30-year-old man died and another man was injured by the junta airstrikes, which also damaged at least five houses,” said a member of the TNLA’s information team, speaking to Myanmar Now on Tuesday. An electric power station, a courthouse, and five houses were also hit, according to the Ta’ang Women’s Organisation, which monitors the impact of the conflict on civilians in TNLA-controlled territory. Namhsan was captured by the TNLA in mid-December of last year during the first phase of Operation 1027, an offensive launched by the TNLA and its allies on October 27. Last week, the TNLA and its two partners in the Brotherhood Alliance, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Arakha Army, released a statement urging the international community, and particularly China, to push the regime to end its airstrikes in non-combat areas. Since the second phase of Operation 1027 began on June 25, the junta has repeatedly targeted the MNDAA-controlled towns of Laukkai and Hseni (Hsenwi) in northern Shan State, killing at least 14 and wounding 23 others. While no air raids have been reported on MNDAA territory since the group seized control of Lashio, the region’s largest city, on August 3, an airstrike on the town of Kutkai three days later killed at least six people and injured 10 at a local market. Kutkai has been jointly controlled by several ethnic armed groups since it was captured by the Brotherhood Alliance in January. TNLA-led forces have captured four towns since resuming their offensive in late June: Nawnghkio, Mongmit and Kyaukme in northern Shan State and the ruby-mining hub of Mogok in Mandalay Region. Meanwhile, the group is continuing its advance on junta bases on the outskirts of Hsipaw, where intense clashes that began on Saturday have reportedly displaced thousands of residents. According to local media outlet Shwe Phee Myay, junta shelling near Hsipaw killed at least 11 people, including children, between August 9 and August 12. Clashes have also been reported at two locations south of the town of Nawnghkio in recent days—near the village of Tawng Hkam, where the junta’s Artillery Battalion 902 is stationed, and near Nawng Leik, where Light Infantry Battalion 306 is based.

Myanmar junta airstrikes hit TNLA-controlled town in northern Shan State

The attack on Namhsan comes as anti-regime groups call for international intervention to end the junta’s targeting of civilians in non-combat areas

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