Thousands flee Myanmar junta raids in Sagaing’s Kyunhla and Monywa townships

A series of raids by regime forces has displaced thousands of civilians in resistance-held areas of Sagaing Region’s Kyunhla and Monywa townships, local sources and anti-junta groups reported. On Wednesday, more than 7,000 people from nine villages in Kyunhla Township fled their homes after junta soldiers and members of the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia raided the village of Koke Ko Kone, according to the Kyunhla Township People’s Administrative Team (PAT). “At least 250 junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee entered Koke Ko Kone yesterday and are still inside,” a spokesperson for the PAT told Myanmar Now on Thursday. Several houses in Koke Ko Kone were reportedly set on fire, and a regime warplane also bombed the area at around 7:30pm, local sources said. They added that the full extent of the damage remains unclear, as junta troops continue to operate in the area. Koke Ko Kone and other affected villages, including Hlut Taik and Ma Daung, are all located east of the Thapanseik Reservoir and north of the town of Kyunhla, the township’s junta-controlled administrative centre. The Kyunhla PAT estimates that at least 15,000 people have been permanently displaced in the township due to repeated raids by the military regime since it seized power nearly four years ago. Farther south, in Monywa Township, a junta column seized several resistance camps near the village of Neikban Wa on Wednesday, before entering the nearby village of Kyee Oke and setting it on fire, according to anti-regime groups active in the area. Four junta vehicles, carrying at least 150 soldiers, were also deployed to a hilltop pagoda near Neikban Wa, which is located about 13 miles southeast of Monywa, Sagaing Region’s capital and largest city. At least three other nearby villages were also raided over a three-day period, local resistance groups said. The junta forces also detained around 30 people for use as human shields, they added. The fate of the detainees remains unknown as junta operations continue in the area. Since the military coup in 2021, more than 73,300 houses have been burned by the junta in Sagaing Region, according to data compiled by Data for Myanmar, an independent research organisation.

Thousands flee Myanmar junta raids in Sagaing’s Kyunhla and Monywa townships

Airstrikes and arson attacks were reported as regime forces targeted villages in resistance-held areas of the two townships

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