Six civilians were killed when Myanmar junta troops shelled a market in Kawlin town, Sagaing Region on Tuesday, according to locals.
The deadly attack came just days after two children were among four civilians killed in junta artillery attacks on Kawlin, the first Sagaing town to fall to the anti-regime resistance.
Locals said Light Infantry Battalion 120 based in neighboring Wuntho Town shelled Kawlin six times at around 9 am on Tuesday. Two shells hit Kawlin Market, killing five women and a man aged between 18 and 55. Two other civilians were injured in the attack.
“The victims were vendors and shoppers,” said a Kawlin resident, adding that the town’s streets were deserted following the attack.
Kawlin in late November became the first Sagaing district-level town to be captured by resistance forces. The town is now being run by a full-strength civilian administration under the parallel National Unity Government (NUG).
However, junta troops based in Wuntho town, 8 kilometers away, are now bombarding Kawlin with frequent artillery strikes, locals said.
Kawlin residents are sleeping in nearby villages at night before returning to the town during the daytime.
Junta shelling also killed three civilians in Kawlin on the night of Dec. 28. Two children aged two and eight were among the victims when shells destroyed three houses and a monastery in the town. Two civilians were also injured.
Junta troops were firing artillery at civilian targets in the town despite an absence of clashes with resistance forces, according to From People to People, a local information group.
Light Infantry Battalion 120 also targeted Taung Maw village in Kawlin Township last Saturday, destroying two houses and injuring two civilians. A 43-year-old woman in the village died of a heart attack when a shell exploded in front of her house, locals said.
Since taking control of Kawlin, Sagaing resistance forces have also seized the towns of Khampat, Maw Luu and Shwepyiaye.
