Around 20 civilians have been killed and more than 20 injured in Myanmar junta shelling and airstrikes since Operation 1027 was relaunched this week in northern Shan State and Mandalay Region.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and its allies resumed Operation 1027 in Kyaukme and Nawnghkio townships in northern Shan State and Mogoke in Mandalay Region on Tuesday, saying it was reacting to repeated violations by the junta of January’s Chinese-brokered ceasefire.
Two towns and over 25 junta strongholds have fallen, including battalion headquarters and police stations, in Nawnghkio and Kyaukme townships in northern Shan State and Madaya and Mogoke townships in northern Mandalay Region.
The junta has responded with shelling and airstrikes with the TNLA reporting 12 civilian deaths on Friday alone.
Shelling killed six civilians in Kyaukme Township, including a Buddhist nun, and wounded two others, the armed group said.
A junta airstrike on eastern Mogoke hit a monastery, killing a novice and injuring four others. In western Mogoke two women and a child were killed.
The airstrikes and shelling damaged 13 houses and a monastery and thousands of Kyaukme, Nawnghkio and Mogoke residents have been displaced.
The TNLA reported that two civilians were killed and two injured in Nawnghkio on Friday in junta shelling and airstrikes.
On Wednesday junta shelling and airstrikes targeting Kyaukme killed four civilians and injured 15 others, according to residents. Junta airstrikes on the town killed two civilians and injured five others, the TNLA said.
A Kyaukme resident said: “We hear about deaths every day. The town is in fear. We don’t know when a bomb will land. We can’t eat properly.”
Aid workers said most residents remain trapped in Kyaukme and Nawnghkio with only a few thousand leaving preemptively.
Some civilians have tried to escape through jungle paths, hoping to reach Mandalay.
In Mogoke town, about 120km from Kyaukme, fighting has trapped civilians. A resident said there are three routes out of Mogoke but the road to Mongmit is blocked, the route to Mine Lon is bombarded by the junta and the road to Mandalay has reported fighting.
The junta is shelling TNLA advances into western Mogoke, where a police station was attacked on Friday.
On Saturday morning, the TNLA reported fighting was in Nawnghkio with at least 10 junta soldiers killed at a camp at Shukhinnthar in the township.
