Myanmar junta column kills nearly 30 civilians in offensive to retake Magway oil field

Myanmar military troops killed at least 29 civilians and burned down over 330 houses during a three-month offensive to reclaim a key oil field in Myaing Township, Magway Region, resistance forces say. The junta column, comprised of several hundred Pakokku-based Light Infantry Division 101 troops, has been conducting raids on villages near the borders of Pakokku, Myaing, and Pauk townships since early May. In response, local resistance forces including Magway Federal Unit forces, Bamar People's Liberation Army, and local People’s Defense Force (PDF) units, launched a combined counteroffensive under the name “Operation Anyar Tamar.” The junta column, reinforced by extensive air support, has now reached the outskirts of the Well Two oil field after more than three months of clashes with resistance forces. “They attacked using all kinds of airstrikes—planes, gyrocopters, and MI-35 helicopters. The column has now arrived in Taung Son village, Myaing Township. Their main objective is to reach the Well Two area on the border of the Pauk and Myaing oil fields,” said Pyae Phyo Kyaw, the spokesperson for Operation Anyar Tamar. A recent scene of the Myaing Township oil field (Photo: supplied) According to front line sources, the junta had arrested and killed 29 civilians, mostly elderly people, during its offensive in Myaing and Pauk townships. Locals reported that when junta troops stationed themselves in Yargyipyin village in early August, they burned houses for days, and an elderly woman was later found dead. In Hmanyin village, once the junta column left, locals found they had left a man, paralysed from the waist down, locked in stocks. The Anyar Myay Coalition—an anti-junta group participating in Operation Anyar Tamar—announced that over 330 homes were burned down in a dozen villages across Pauk and Myaing townships. “[The troops] stationed themselves and kept guard in the monastery, searched and destroyed everything. We found sticks soaked in crude oil used to burn down the houses,” said a resistance fighter who witnessed the attack. An elderly woman from Yargyipyin village was found dead on August 13 (Photo: Tin Soe - Anyar Myay) Junta airstrikes are also being carried out daily on villages surrounding Yargyipyin and Hmanyin near the oil fields. Tens of thousands of locals from over 20 villages in Myaing Township have fled their homes. Resistance forces and aid workers urged all others to avoid the column and flee to safer areas. “Among those arrested in the villages through which the column passed, very few have escaped. The rest were all killed,” said Sayar Htwe from the Anyar Myay Civil Society Organisation. “We are seeing a situation where they arrest and kill everyone they see, so there is no way we can allow villagers to encounter this army column.” Myanmar Now made repeated phone calls to San Nyunt Aung, the junta’s Magway Region spokesperson, to ask about the situation, but was unable to reach him. Operation Anyar Tamar troops said they had seized ammunition and weapons during clashes, and that the junta had suffered heavy casualties. They also said that four pro-junta militia members had defected from the regime. Resistance forces had previously captured other inland oil fields, including Kyauk Khwet in Myaing Township in late 2023, and Letpanto in Pauk Township in early 2024. The oil fields are an important source of revenue for resistance forces, making the area a major target for junta attacks. Over half of the junta’s weapons production factories are located in Magway Region. The regime is also launching ground and air offensives in Magway’s Saw Township, aiming to take control of the area connecting the flat Anyar (Dry zone) with the Chin hills, which is an important communication and supply route.

Myanmar junta column kills nearly 30 civilians in offensive to retake Magway oil field

Myanmar military troops also torched over 330 homes during their three-month offensive, which has displaced tens of thousands in Myaing and Pauk townships

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