Forty southern Shan State civilians were killed by Myanmar junta artillery and airstrikes amid clashes with the Pa-O National Liberation Army (PNLA) in the last month.
The civilians from Hsihseng, Loilen and Hopong townships were killed from January 21 to February 24, according to the Pa-O Youth Organization (PYO).
The PNLA is fighting the regime and allied Pa-O National Army (PNA) in the Pa-O autonomous region of southern Shan State.
Clashes broke out with the PNLA, a signatory of the 2015 National Ceasefire Agreement, in Sam Hpu village on January 20 when junta and PNA soldiers attempted to disarm a PNLO convoy.
On January 24, the junta-controlled Hsihseng was attacked and most of the town was occupied, including the police station and administrative departments.
Clashes continue across the Pa-O autonomous region with heavy junta airstrikes and shelling, including against non-military targets.
The junta launched 293 aerial attacks and 808 shelling strikes, killing 40 civilians, injuring 51 others and destroying 97 buildings, the PYO reported on Monday.
“Two boys and three girls were killed and five bodies were unidentifiable,” PYO spokeswoman Ma Li Li told The Irrawaddy.
Twelve religious buildings were destroyed and 94,300 civilians have been displaced, the PYO reported.
Displaced civilians have moved to Taunggyi, Hopong and Nyaung Shwe townships and Mandalay Region, Ma Li Li said.
The Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO), the political wing of the PNLA, has participated in the regime’s “peace talks” since the 2021 coup.
But in late January the PNLA said it would drive the junta from Pa-O territory and it would establish an administration to allow people to live freely. It urged militias not to help the dictatorship and work for national liberation.
On January 31, the PNLA and resistance allies killed around 50 junta soldiers near Hsihseng and seized many weapons, the group said.
Following the defeat, the junta allegedly fired more than 100 shells into the Pa-O region on February 5 and 130 shells on February 24.
The PYO said 249 junta airstrikes hit the Pa-O region in January and 44 in February.
