The Myanmar army carried out airstrikes on eight villages in Sagaing Region’s western Ye-U Township on Sunday and Monday, local sources said.
Among the targeted communities were Taung Pyin Nge, Palu Zawa, Auk Yae Twin and Aung Thukha.
Soldiers were sent into the area by helicopter and carried out raids on the villages, a man helping the fleeing locals said.
“Three helicopters came on February 6 [to Taung Pyin Nge] and two of them dropped off soldiers while the other one opened fire from the air,” the man said, adding, “They came four times on February 7 and opened fire the whole day with just a few breaks in between.”
Around 10,000 locals from the eight locations were displaced to nearby forests and neighbouring villages, according to a man who lives near Taung Pyin Nge.
An additional 7,000 people fled when fighter jets hovered near the villages of Zin Kalae, Laung Pyae, Khat Lon and Than Pauk villages, all within three miles of Taung Pyin Nge but in Mingin Township.
The man said that Myanmar army soldiers detained 70 people, including elderly persons and young children, from Taung Pyin Nge on Sunday.
“They surrounded the village in such a short time that the villagers did not even dare or have a chance to run,” he told Myanmar Now. “The helicopters dropped off soldiers and they started surrounding the village and arresting the villagers.”
On Monday, the troops reportedly opened fire both into the villages and the surrounding forests. That day, two helicopters airlifted soldiers to Palu Zawa village and one did so to Taung Pyin Nge.
The villages targeted in the strikes are located some 17 miles from the Winmana police station in Kani Township, which was attacked by the local anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF) one day earlier on Saturday.
Junta-controlled newspapers reported that its forces had raided a PDF station inside the Taung Pyin Nge village school on Sunday evening, and alleged that the resistance fighters had been stationed in the building following the attack on the Winmana police station.
They also claimed to have confiscated weapons from the PDF, in addition to two uniforms of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, which is active in northern Shan State.
The report did not include information on the military reportedly holding 70 civilians captive in the village.
A spokesperson for the Ye-U PDF said that his forces had never been stationed inside the school. He acknowledged that trained group members, in coordination with the National Unity Government, had volunteered to teach children in the village who had been out of school since March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent strike against the junta-controlled education system.
“We were only planning to teach the children in kindergarten as they had not learnt anything for two years. That was all. We weren’t stationed inside the school,” he said.
The spokesperson confirmed that some of their weapons were seized by the military but none of their members were arrested.
The military council has repeatedly denied its own occupation of schools, the looting and burning of villages and extrajudicial killings, and has maintained it is fighting against “terrorist” organisations, including the PDF.
