Thousands flee as Myanmar junta forces torch Magway villages

Escalating clashes and raids by regime forces have displaced more than 6,000 civilians in Magway Region’s Salin Township since late last week, according to local sources. Junta troops targeted two villages in the township last Thursday in retaliation for an ambush by resistance forces, the sources said. “They burned down at least 56 houses in Ka Hnyat and Tha Yet Khon after they were ambushed,” a spokesperson for the Salin Township People’s Administrative Team told Myanmar Now. The attack on a column of regime troops took place last week near Ka Hnyat, a village less than three miles north of the junta-held town of Salin. Clashes have been raging in Salin Township since early January, as regime forces attempt to prevent resistance forces from entering areas under the junta’s control. “Clashes have been ongoing in northern Salin Township for the past month. We also heard artillery fire last night,” a displaced man from Salin Township said. On January 27, junta shelling killed a 15-year-old girl in Moe Win, another village north of Salin, according to local sources. Nearly 80 percent of the displaced people have sought refuge in resistance-held areas in Salin Township, according to the spokesperson for the Salin Township People’s Administrative Team. “We are providing medical assistance and food to some people who are taking refuge in monasteries and schools,” she said. On Monday, resistance forces reportedly launched an offensive on a major strategic outpost near Lin Zin, a village about 11 miles west of Salin. “We captured the Lin Zin police station this morning, despite the junta’s aerial assaults,” a source close to local resistance forces told Myanmar Now on Monday. A junta warplane was deployed to defend the strategic outpost, conducting three airstrikes at around 8:30am, the source said. However, anti-regime forces successfully captured the police station, and set it on fire during the battle. At least 14 junta troops surrendered to resistance forces during the attack, according to the People’s Administrative Team spokesperson. The attack was carried out by People Defence Force battalions based in Minbu District, she added. Junta troops also launched arson attacks on villages near the No. 22 military armament factory in Magway’s Seikphyu Township, north of Salin, on Sunday, damaging a school and several houses, sources there said. Shelling and arson attacks by regime forces were also reported in Pwinbyu Township, south of Salin, on Saturday. At least 100 houses were damaged or destroyed in the village of Ma De following clashes between junta troops and resistance forces, according to local news outlet Myaelatt Athan. No further details were available at the time of reporting.

Thousands flee as Myanmar junta forces torch Magway villages

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