Three killed by Myanmar regime forces in Bago’s Nattalin Township

Junta troops captured several civilians, killing at least three, and burned down hundreds of houses in Bago Region’s Nattalin Township earlier this week, according to local sources. The attacks came after clashes erupted at around 5am on Monday between a regime column and local People’s Defence Force (PDF) fighters near the villages of Ngoke Ta Yar and Hpa Lan Pin, less than 10 miles east of the town of Nattalin, the sources said. During the fighting, junta troops captured and killed residents who were trapped inside Hpa Lan Pin, a woman living in the area told Myanmar Now. “Clashes began in the morning, and by evening, homes in Hpa Lan Pin and Shar Say Hpo had been set ablaze,” the woman said, adding that around half of the roughly 300 houses in Hpa Lan Pin had been destroyed by fire. Sources identified the three deceased as Chit Htun and Khin Yi, both men in their 60s, and Htay Aung, aged 48. After retreating to Damange, a village about eight miles east of Nattalin, that evening, the column set out again early the next day to carry out further arson attacks, this time targeting Ngoke Ta Yar and a neighbouring village, Tha Yet Pin Kan Yoe. The extent of the damage from those attacks was unknown at the time of reporting. According to a local PDF source, the column—which has been based in Damange since early February—advanced into Hpa Lan Pin and Ngoke Ta Yar without warning on Monday, seizing several residents. At least five are still being held hostage, the source said, adding that it could not be confirmed if they were still alive. Residents reported that PDF and junta forces both suffered casualties in the fighting, but resistance sources declined to provide details. Regime forces began advancing into eastern Nattalin Township early last month. On February 6, a junta drone strike on a security outpost in Ngoke Ta Yar killed six PDF fighters. Five days later, an airstrike on Kyauk Pyoke, another village in the township, left a displaced woman dead and her son and husband injured. Thousands of people living in villages in the area, including Hpa Lan Pin, Shar Say Hpo, Tha Yet Pin Kan Yoe, Ngoke Ta Yar, Nyaung Waing, and Khway Thay, have been forced to flee the fighting. The intensification of the conflict comes as resistance forces escalate their operations against the junta army in areas around the Bago Yoma mountain range, having strengthened their positions there since late last year. While PDF forces under the National Unity Government are active in the western part of Bago Region, both the PDF and the Karen National Union maintain a strong presence along the Sittaung River in eastern Bago.

Three killed by Myanmar regime forces in Bago’s Nattalin Township

The column responsible for the killings also took at least five civilians hostage and torched hundreds of houses, sources said

Subscribe for full access

For Myanmar migrants in Thailand, hope is a 100-baht lottery ticket

‘Will it be different this time, Grandson?’

Across a border and into a war: A Karenni leader’s final journey

When going home is impossible: Myanmar nationals find solace in Singapore’s Peninsula Plaza

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

Aerial assault by Myanmar’s military kills mother, three daughters in Sagaing Region

Three Myanmar resistance fighters killed in two separate incidents in Sagaing Region

Belarus loans debated by Myanmar’s junta-controlled parliament

Myanmar junta leader says will take back migrants from Malaysia ‘as soon as possible’