Myanmar junta bombs, shells Mogok to push back renewed Operation 1027 advance

Junta forces shelled and conducted airstrikes in and near Mogok, Mandalay Region earlier this week to beat back recent advances by anti-regime forces, locals said. Local sources said a junta warplane fired at the ground on Monday as it flew over the outskirts of the town, which is well-known as a hub of ruby production, as clashes spread from the western half of the township. “We could even hear the roar of the military’s planes and the explosions from the city centre yesterday,” a Mogok resident told Myanmar Now on Tuesday. Video footage posted by a local resident on social media showed a fighter jet swooping low over the ground and firing off several volleys of missiles in succession. “We just heard gunfire from Min Ta Dar Ward near the town’s entrance,” the resident said. “We’re still hearing artillery fire from the junta tactical base inside the town. Everyone near the base has been forced to flee their homes.” Another video clip showed junta artillery firing from the tactical base. Clashes have continued near Pein Pyit village and Oke Saung mountain in eastern Mogok Township since the village of Kyat Pyin—located some five miles west of Mogok’s urban centre—fell to anti-junta forces led by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic armed group, on June 30. The TNLA’s information team issued a statement claiming that the group and its allies had also attacked the junta’s Infantry Battalion (IB) 88 and 148 bases in eastern Mogok Township. An unconfirmed number of casualties resulted when shells landed in four of Mogok’s wards. “A man was killed and another five sustained injuries in the Ohn Kaing area,” a man from Mogok said. Myanmar Now was unable to verify the total number of civilian deaths and injuries. Mogok residents who are unable to leave the town are now at risk of food shortages, while many of those who were able to flee are now stranded on the road to Mandalay. “It’s very difficult to buy rice. All shops are closed and have stopped selling rice,” said a Mogok resident who has remained trapped inside the town since clashes first broke out. Food and fuel prices have also soared in the town, which has been blockaded amid the intensifying battles in the area, locals said. Scene from an area of western Mogok Township under the control of the TNLA and its allies on July 5 (Photo: TNLA) Locals claimed to have seen a long line of trucks and other vehicles stranded between Kyauk Hpyu and Chaung Gyi villages in neighbouring Thabeikkyin Township after junta forces blocked checkpoints on a section of the Mogok-Mandalay road. “I heard people who left the town on June 29 are still stuck on the way because the army troops are blocking the routes in Zayat Kwin and Chaung Gyi villages,” a man in Mogok said. Another man from Mogok who works as a driver told Myanmar Now that junta troops began allowing displaced people to pass through the Chaung Gyi and Zayat Kwin checkpoints again on Tuesday morning. “The gates have even reopened in Thabeikkyin, but it’s still impossible to pass through Singu and Madaya townships,” the driver said, referring to townships where clashes have occurred recently between the Mandalay People’s Defence Forces (MDY-PDF) and junta troops. The TNLA has claimed that its coalition of forces has captured at least 34 junta outposts and bases in northern Shan State and Mandalay Region since relaunching an offensive against the junta in late June. Scene from an area of western Mogok Township under the control of the TNLA and its allies on July 5 (Photo: TNLA) People’s Defence Force fighters commanded by the publicly mandated National Unity Government are also fighting in the TNLA-led offensive, which the participating groups have called “Part 2” of Operation 1027 in reference to a previous campaign of anti-junta attacks that lasted from October 2023 to January 2024. The nascent second wave of the offensive encompasses a large swathe of territory in northern Shan State and neighbouring areas of Mandalay Region. Within this territory, the TNLA and allied forces now claim to have overrun more than 40 military bases and government administrative buildings, including the Myanmar army’s Light Infantry Battalion 114 and 115 bases in Nawnghkio Township, northern Shan State. The TNLA, backed by the MDY-PDF, have also seized at least 30 army outposts in Mandalay Region’s Mogok, Madaya, Thabeikkyin, and Singu townships since late June.

Myanmar junta bombs, shells Mogok to push back renewed Operation 1027 advance

While some in Mogok are unable to leave and seek safety from the fighting, many who fled remained stranded on the road for days due to the junta’s closure of checkpoints on the way to Mandalay

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