Residents are trapped in Zayatgyi town in Tantabin Township, Bago Region, by fighting between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and Myanmar junta troops.
The KNLA and allies, including the Bamar People’s Liberation Army (BPLA) and People’s Defense Forces, carried out coordinated attacks on junta positions in Zayatgyi, including the Infantry Battalion 73 headquarters and police station, on Wednesday morning. The regime responded with bombing raids, said residents.
“I still hear gunfire, bomb blasts and airplanes. The blasts are deafening,” a resident told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
Many residents were trapped as roads were blocked in the town. Civilian casualties were reported with houses and a school damaged by bombing raids.
“I saw a dead woman by the road. She might have died in a bombing raid. Airplanes have been bombing the whole morning,” the woman added.
Zayatgyi is in Taungoo District, which is referred to by the Karen National Union (KNU) as Taw Oo District where KNU Brigade 2 is based. The town is on the eastern bank of the Sittoung River on the old Yangon-Mandalay road.
BPLA information officer Ko Lin Lin told The Irrawaddy that resistance forces were primarily targeting Infantry Battalion 73. He said 80 percent of the battalion’s base had fallen, he told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
The regime brought in reinforcements and continued airstrikes and nearby junta positions are shelling the town.
Junta casualties are unknown. Two BPLA members and five Spring Warriors resistance fighters were wounded on Wednesday.
A resident said: “My house is near Battalion 73 and I saw smoke from there. Fighter jets are firing into the forest in the east. Many residents have fled into the fields.”
Tantabin borders Taungoo Township to the north, Kyaukkyi Township to the south, Oktwin and Phyu to the west and Thandaunggyi Township in Karen State to the east.
