Two civilians have died of injuries and at least 10 others were hurt after the regime prevented 800 people from leaving a monastery where they were trapped by fighting in Sagaing Region’s Indaw town.
Fighting has been raging in Indaw, Tigyaing and Pinlebu towns in northern Sagaing.
Some 800 civilians including Buddhist monks, elderly people and children became trapped in the monastery in Indaw since fighting broke out on Aug. 16. Two have been killed and at least 10 others injured by junta bombing raids and shells that landed near the monastery, according to sources.
A member of Indaw Township People’s Defense Team said: “Those people thought the fighting would end in a few days, so they took shelter at the nearby monastery, but fighting has now raged for weeks.”
Junta soldiers who had retreated from their positions in the town are defending themselves against the resistance attack from a World War II-era underground hospital near the monastery, he said.
“The junta soldiers want to use those trapped in the monastery as human shields, so they don’t allow them to leave,” he added.
A 28-year-old woman and a man in his 20s who were injured in a junta artillery strike died when they could not receive medical treatment and were buried in the monastery compound.
Some others have managed to flee the monastery. One escapee said: “Children were also injured. Some of the people trapped in the monastery are health workers, and they did whatever they could to prevent blood loss. Though the regime isn’t watching around the clock, people dare not escape, but I managed to sneak out.”
The monastery is adjacent to the underground hospital built by the Japanese in World War II, and junta troops are deployed in the monastery compound. There are also security posts nearby.
Those trapped are running out of food, but junta troops are not providing any help. They live in fear that the monastery could be mistakenly hit by the junta’s air attacks as the regime continues to strafe the town.
For the past few days fighting in Indaw town has ceased. Anti-regime groups have been attempting to rescue the trapped civilian, but to no avail.
One resistance fighter said: “We help escapees to proceed to their destination. If they have nowhere to go, we send them to displacement camps. We have been trying to rescue the people trapped in the monastery, but junta troops are deployed on a nearby hill, and there are also air raids. They can use the civilians trapped in the monastery as human shields, so it’s difficult to attack them.”
Combined forces of the People’s Defense Force (PDF), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), All Burma Students’ Democratic Front and local resistance groups launched an offensive in Indaw, Tigyaing and Pinlebu in mid-August.
In Indaw, which borders Kachin State on the Mandalay-Myitkyina road, resistance forces have seized the police station and general administration department since launching their offensive on Aug. 16. But junta troops from the 77th Light Infantry Division and allied Shan Nationalities Army (SNA) are defending themselves from a hill at the town’s entrance and the underground hospital.
Around 300 junta troops are deployed on the hill, according to anti-regime groups.
Anti-regime forces seized Mawlu town in Indaw Township in November last year.
Fighting is also raging in Tigyaing and Pinlebu, which are strategically located on the border of Kachin and Shan states and Mandalay Region, with the regime providing air support for its ground troops.
