Trapped in a war zone: Civilians and the displaced in Nawnghkio, northern Shan State

Unfazed by the combat drones flying just metres above him, a displaced farmer continued working in his field in rural Nawnghkio Township. The township is a current flashpoint in northern Shan State, where fighting between the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Myanmar’s military has only escalated despite moves towards peace in the rest of the territory. The farmer said he had gotten used to the sound of artillery shells whizzing over his head every day. “I feel a bit odd when it’s quiet,” the man said with a wry smile. “I couldn’t fall asleep without hearing those sounds.” “The military is carrying out bombardments nearly every day without any confrontation,” he added. “They fired two artillery rounds today and often deploy drones to drop bombs.” For nearly a year, since the war spread to the southernmost part of Nawnghkio Township in June 2024, he has been trapped in a makeshift hut hidden in a cornfield as fighting has raged on near his village, Bant Bway, once a thriving, densely populated area. Located some 14 miles south of the TNLA-controlled town of Nawnghkio, Bant Bway sits on a major trade route linking Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, and Muse, a vital trade hub on the state’s border with China. Several intense battles between junta troops and Ta’ang fighters had erupted near his makeshift home over the past year but he said that his family had luckily pulled through unscathed. “Combat drones are constantly hovering overhead. They’re constantly watching us but we just keep on doing what we normally do,” he said. “If we run away or try to hide, we are afraid that they’ll become suspicious and drop bombs on us.” At the beginning of last year’s rainy season, the farmer recalled, junta troops arrived in their village, setting up defensive positions at a monastery and a school within their village. Many people fled their homes in a panic after troops fired off shells from a multiple rocket launcher system. “Clashes usually occurred just one to four miles away from where we are staying,” the farmer said. “They told us to run for our lives if the TNLA fighters came to our hut or we’d be hit by artillery,” he added, referring to the junta soldiers. Turning a village into a junta stronghold Roughly three miles east of Bant Bway, the TNLA fighters are in control of Inn Waing village. A vast stretch of farmland—mostly plantations of corn and sugarcane—lies between the two villages. Some residents from Bant Bway are taking refuge in these fields. So far, the military regime has succeeded in holding control over several villages near Bant Bway as well as an intersection near Ohn Ma Thee village some three miles to the north. Then, after losing control over the town of Nawnghkio, junta troops stationed a garrison in Bant Bway and Wet Win villages to prevent clashes from spreading to the nearby town of Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Region, which is a vital site home to the military’s premier officer training academies. The clashes have left thousands homeless in southern Nawnghkio Township. At least 200 families from several villages including Bant Bway, Gant Gaw, and Hsam Ma Hse have been taking shelters in a monastery in nearby Pyin Oo Lwin Township for nearly a year, a displaced woman said. “The soldiers didn’t let us go back into our own homes when we returned to our village in July last year,” said a displaced woman, who was the mother of a one-year-old child. Displaced people sheltering at a monastery near the Ohn Ma Thee intersection in Nawnghkio Township (Photo: Khio Kham Monastery Facebook page) Many displaced people sheltering at the monastery have to work as day labourers to make ends meet. Just a few have found the means to reestablish their business in Pyin Oo Lwin, said a displaced man from Bant Bway. “We have to start our business over since it’s not our hometown,” said the man, who is in his 30s. “It’s very challenging. Besides, there are only a few local people here. Most of the people living here are in the same situation as us.” Residents of Bant Bway said they watched their village transform into a junta stronghold, with troops stationed at four separate positions, including a school, a social welfare office, and a monastery. They said the military had not only taken their homes, but most of their belongings. “They took everything from our houses. They even cut down sandalwood trees in our yard,” the displaced man in his 30s said. “We watched them loot our belongings but we didn’t dare say a word because they had guns.” The stolen items reportedly were sold on the black market in Kyaung Kone village around two miles to the northwest, Bant Bway residents claimed. “They are selling all sorts of stolen goods there from solar panels to water pumps to plastic petrol containers,” said the farmer, who is sheltering near Nyaung Kone, also just northwest of Bant Bway. Nowhere left to turn The Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF, an independent advocacy group that monitors abuses by the military regime, estimated that more than 700 people from four villages near Bant Bway remain trapped amid ongoing fighting in Nawnghkio Township, with no safe places left to flee. “Their villages have been surrounded by junta troops and they can’t go anywhere. They’re taking shelter inside monasteries,” an SHRF representative explained. “Right now, they are in urgent need of assistance. Access to healthcare is also difficult there. If anyone is injured by a landmine or heavy artillery, it’s nearly impossible to transport them where they can get the necessary treatment.” The road between Bant Bway and Pyin Oo Lwin is heavily guarded by junta troops, restricting the movement of food, medicine, fuel, and farming supplies. “We have to pass through four junta checkpoints over just a two-mile distance to buy petrol. They also allow us to buy only two litres per trip,” a farmer from Bant Bway said. Additionally, ongoing airstrikes and artillery shelling continue to put displaced communities near Bant Bway at risk despite the regime’s extension of a temporary ceasefire until May 30. “Monasteries and schools near the village are not safe. Monasteries in Gant Gaw, Ohn Ma Thee and Inn Waing have all been targeted by junta warplanes,” a displaced man from Bant Bway said. A restaurant near the Ohn Ma Thee intersection after being hit by an airstrike on March 3 (Photo: Khio Kham Monastery Facebook page) On March 18, a local monk made an urgent plea on Facebook to armed groups on behalf of the displaced people sheltering at a monastery near the village of Ohn Ma Thee, urging them not to enter their monastery compound. The appeal said, “All houses near the Ohn Ma Thee intersection were damaged by heavy shelling and airstrikes. We have nowhere to run. This monastery is our last refuge. There are no combatants here. Please do not enter and do not take position in our monastery.” The threat of devastating violence has never been more imminent between the belligerent forces in Nawnghkio Township, which has become the frontline and epicentre of the northern Shan State conflict. Tensions reached a new height when Chinese government-brokered negotiations in China’s Yunnan Province broke down, with the TNLA rejecting a junta demand to withdraw its forces from five towns under its control. With no resolution in sight, residents see no hope of returning to their homes. “I really want to return to my village as soon as possible. Apart from what we made from farming, our village was bustling with businesses and jobs as it’s located right next to the Mandalay-Lashio-Muse trade route,” a displaced woman from Bant Bway said. Clashes are also ongoing in Tawng Hkam, less than 17 miles southeast of Bant Bway in southern Nawnghkio Township. The TNLA has continued to push back against the junta mobile defense units in Tawng Hkam, the site of the No. 902 Artillery Command Headquarters and three other artillery battalion bases, aiming to gain control over the remaining, southernmost area of the township. “Both sides are still launching attacks and civilians are still running for their lives,” said a man who had been forced to close his campsite in Tawng Hkam. “And it’s impossible for locals to return to their homes even after the fighting ends because of the risk of landmines.”

Trapped in a war zone: Civilians and the displaced in Nawnghkio, northern Shan State

With tensions escalating around them, villagers and displaced people in Nawnghkio Township have suffered through looting, mistreatment, and the necessity of sheltering in monasteries and fields after losing their homes

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