Myanmar junta troops torch houses in Sagaing Region after resistance attack

Subscribe to the Myanmar Now daily newsletter. It's free. Sign up > Following resistance assaults on an army camp in Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region, junta infantry retaliated last week with arson attacks on civilian homes in neighbouring villages, locals said. After junta infantry troops encamped in Ma Daung Hla village some six miles north of Khin-U came under attack twice in August, troops advanced out of the base in the first week of September and raided villages within a five-mile radius, a member of the local Fighting Peacock resistance group said. “They have been raiding the territory around Ma Daung Hla, claiming it’s for a clearance operation,” the resistance fighter said. During clashes in Ma Daung Hla on August 31, junta forces deployed an attack helicopter and Y-12 transport aircraft, targeting the resistance fighters from the air and forcing them to withdraw without penetrating the base camp. This was the second such resistance attack in recent weeks. Previously, an alliance of resistance groups launched an attack on Ma Daung Hla in the second week of August, which junta forces had also repelled by calling in air support. Five resistance fighters were killed and over twenty injured during the clashes in Ma Daung Hla village last month, with resistance sources attributing most of their casualties to junta airstrikes. Following the August clashes, a combined force of regular infantry troops and junta-trained Pyu Saw Htee militia members from Ma Daung Hla and nearby areas of Kanbalu Township formed two separate columns, moving out of the base camp in different directions to conduct raids. The soldiers’ and militia members’ raids destroyed many houses in the villages of Nga Kyaing, In Gyin Pin, Saw Gyi, Tha Nat Sein, Hpan Khar Kone, Pauk Taw, Hne Twin, Si Son Lay, Ma Daung Gyi, and Shwe Kar, according to the Fighting Peacock member. Resistance sources said the total number of houses torched by the junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee militias is not yet confirmed. The military council was unavailable for enquiries about arson attacks committed by forces under its command and has not released any statements regarding Khin-U Township for a month. Map showing the villages in Khin-U Township raided by junta troops and junta-trained militias in early September The junta raids have reportedly forced thousands of villagers to flee their homes, resistance sources said. They also noted that Ma Daung Hla serves as a key garrison village, enabling the junta’s continued control over the town Zee Kone, Kanbalu Township a few miles to the north. The Fighting Peacock member also told Myanmar Now that the Ma Daung Hla camp has ample fortifications and defences, including bunkers and foxholes. “Blocks of reinforced concrete sleepers are stacked one on top of another, covered with gravel, and sealed up except for a small opening for entry and exit,” he said, describing one of the bunkers. “These structures are quite strong.” “There are more than 40 bunkers around the perimeter of the village, and inside, there are additional bunkers built into trenches at the village’s entrance and exit,” he added. While the anti-junta resistance controls most rural villages in Khin-U Township, the Myanmar army and junta-trained militias control Ma Daung Hla village to the north, Ma Gyi Ton village to the east, and Pyin Htaung village to the west. Ma Gyi Ton, which was seized by the resistance forces last year, has since been recaptured by regime forces. According to a report released at the end of July by the research group Data for Myanmar, which monitors arson attacks by the military and allied forces, more than 95,000 civilian houses have been burned in the three years and five months since the 2021 coup. More than 70 percent of the arson attacks committed by regime forces occurred in Sagaing Region, according to the report.

Myanmar junta troops torch houses in Sagaing Region after resistance attack

Regime forces carried out airstrikes to repel attacks on its base camp in Ma Daung Hla village, Khin-U Township, then advanced into the surrounding villages and burned down residents’ houses

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