Bago Region

Thousands flee as Myanmar junta intensifies attacks on villages south of Naypyitaw

Junta attacks have forced more than 4,000 people to flee their homes in Bago Region’s Yedashe Township since late last week, according to sources in the area just 50 miles south of Naypyitaw. The attacks began last Friday, after a clash with local resistance forces the day before reportedly left dozens of junta soldiers dead. Since then, residents of at least eight villages east of the Sittaung River have fled to escape airstrikes and shelling by troops stationed in Swar, a town near Bago Region’s border with the Naypyitaw Union Territory. “The junta army has destroyed some of the villages with their heavy weapons. We can’t live in them anymore,” said one local woman who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity. At least three of the villages—Na Kyat, Inn Gyi Pauk, and Si Paing—are now completely empty, according to local relief workers. . . Subscribe for full access to Get unlimited access to high-quality reporting from the frontlines and support independent journalism. Subscribe Now Already a subscriber? Log in