The Burma army has intensified its airstrikes and shelling in the triangular area encompassing Sagaing Region, Kachin State, and northern Shan State in recent days.
According to a People’s Defense Force known as Tigyaing Revolution, at least six civilians lost their lives in an airstrike. The armed group said an airstrike targeted Taw Ma village in Tigyaing Township in Sagaing Region near Kachin State, on April 16. It said many homes were destroyed in villages in the area.
A resident from Katha Township recounted that the Burma army also conducted two airstrikes on Nyaung Pin Win in Sagaing Region the next day.
“The airstrikes obliterated two rice mills in the village,” he stated, specifying that the first strike occurred at 2 pm followed by another at 8 pm.
Situated on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, Katha Township hosts the sole water route from Mandalay to Kachin State.
Another source from Mabine Township in northern Shan State, near Kachin State, revealed that an airstrike resulted in the deaths of six civilians in Pwi Sa Meik within the township.
Locals have indicated that there was no ongoing fighting at the time of the attacks on Nyaung Pin Win and Pwi Sa Meik.
“I am unsure why civilian villages between Sagaing Region, Kachin, and northern Shan states are being targeted.”
In February, the Kachin Independence Army and its allied forces seized control of Mabine town from the Burma army. The groups have been launching assaults on regime forces in Tigyaing town since November.
