The Myanmar military regime launched airstrikes on two towns controlled by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in northern Shan State on Monday morning, injuring civilians and destroying homes, according to the ethnic armed group.
Bombs struck Namtu’s central market area and near the telecommunications office in Hsipaw shortly after 7 a.m. on Monday, the Full Moon Day of Thadingyut—a major Buddhist holiday in Myanmar. Residents said the strikes deliberately targeted busy civilian areas.
“They bombed just as people were going to monasteries for prayers and offerings,” said a Namtu resident.
“The bombs fell near the market, not a military site. It’s intimidation—an attempt to make people feel unsafe in TNLA territory,” he added.
Six houses were completely destroyed and several were damaged in the airstrike on Namtu, the TNLA said.
The armed group reported that a 1-year-old child and two men were injured in Hsipaw in the fourth aerial attack there this month. On Saturday, an airstrike targeting Kyinthi Village in a rural part of Hsipaw killed two civilians.
The attacks come as the junta and its ally China press the TNLA to hand back control of towns it seized from the junta on a crucial China-Myanmar border trade route.
“They’re trying to plant this logic in residents’ heads—that these towns are being bombed because of the TNLA’s presence, and it’s all their fault,” said a Hsipaw resident.
Four civilians were killed when Namtu was bombed on Oct. 2. Residents said fear of further airstrikes has forced many families in both towns to flee their homes this week.
The regime has also carried out airstrikes against the TNLA-held towns of Mantong and Namhsan in northern Shan, and Mogoke in Mandalay Region. An airstrike Saturday killed two children in Namhsan Township.
