Four children were among five civilians killed by junta airstrikes as resistance forces seized Bago Region’s Nat Than Kwin Town from regime troops on Tuesday, residents of the town said.
The airstrikes followed early morning raids on junta bases in the town, which was seized later that day by resistance troops.
Four children and one adult were killed when a junta aircraft bombed the town on Tuesday.
U Tin Oo, deputy head of the National Unity Government’s Second Military Regional Command, said civilians were killed by junta airstrikes and shelling.
“A village monk was killed by artillery shelling this morning,” he told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
A combined force of Karen National Liberation Army, All Burma Students’ Democratic Front and People’s Defense Forces troops began attacking the town at 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday. They also attacked Taungoo air base and military camps in Lae Pat Village simultaneously, according to the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front.
The town was seized by resistance forces later that day, despite junta airstrikes, resistance forces said.
“We are currently conducting clearance operations to fully control [the town],” U Tin Oo said.
Nat Than Kwin Town is situated 12 kilometers from the Yangon-Mandalay Highway on the Sittaung River. It is strategically located between Pae Nwe Kone Town and Kyaukkyi Township in eastern Bago Region.
The Karen National Union (KNU) said resistance forces continued their offensive to military camps in Nat Than Kwin after they seized three junta camps in the area its Brigade 3 is responsible for. The three camps – Lae Pat, Ohn Nae Pin and Na Rwal Pin – are in Mone Township.
The Karen National Liberation Army is the armed wing of the KNU.
The KNU said large caches of weapons and ammunition were seized from the three camps. It said that 20 regime soldiers in the camps were killed and that the resistance also suffered casualties.
On June 6, the resistance groups seized two military outposts in Kyaukkyi Township and destroyed the Bon Tha Taw Bridge over the Sittaung River to prevent the junta from reinforcing its bases in the area.