Myanmar’s junta launched several airstrikes in Kawlin Town, Sagaing Region, as resistance forces attacked regime strongholds on Saturday, according to residents.
Resistance forces occupied Kawlin’s police station on Friday after simultaneous attacks on at least 10 junta positions in eight townships across Sagaing and Magwe regions as part of Operation 1027.
Myanmar’s junta jet fighters and Mi-35 helicopters attacked Kawlin town and Phalae village near the town four times.
A Kawlin resident said two civilians in the town were killed in the airstrikes.
Another civilian was killed and more than 100 wounded when a jet fighter opened fire on Phalae’s monastery in eastern Kawlin on Friday night.
“The airstrike targeted civilians from nearly seven villages sheltering in the monastery,” a Kawlin resident told The Irrawaddy.
The fighting continued on Saturday morning with more junta airstrikes. The civilian casualty numbers are unknown.
“We heard there were civilian casualties this morning but we can’t enter the town,” a Kawlin resident told The Irrawaddy.
Another resident said a lot of civilians have been trapped in the town amid the intense fighting and some houses have been destroyed by the regime airstrike.
“Residents close to the junta’s camp are trapped. My family is trapped in the town but no one dares enter,” he told The Irrawaddy.
Town residents were asked to leave on Saturday morning by the Kawlin Township People’s Administration, which helped with evacuations.
Junta troops stationed at Kawlin’s high school and from neighboring Wuntho Township are advancing on Kawlin, residents said.
“Phone and power lines have been cut in the town. The fighting continues,” a Kawlin resident said.
The civilian Ministry of Defense said on Friday that at least six junta camps and police stations had been seized by resistance forces in northern Sagaing in Kawlin, Kantbalu, Kyunhla, Wuntho, Kalewa, Kale, Homalin and Tamu townships.
