Myanmar regime air and artillery strikes have killed at least three civilians in Namtu town, northern Shan State, amid intensifying clashes with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), according to residents.
The battle for Namtu escalated on Friday (Dec. 22) as the TNLA seized the neighboring town of Mantong, completing its takeover of the Palaung Self-Administered Zone.
Namtu Township, famed for its historic Bawdwin mine, is located just 59 kilometers southeast of Mantong town. The escalating clashes over Mantong have seen most of Namtu’s residents flee to Hsipaw, Kyaukme, Mansan, and Lashio.
However, some have opted to stay behind, either to guard homes and property or because they are not able to flee.
A nine-year-old boy was killed and five residents severely injured when junta artillery shelled two areas of the town on Saturday, locals said.
Two men in their 30s and 40s were then killed by a junta bombardment on Monday at 5 pm while commuting on Bogoke Road in Namtu’s No. 3 Ward, residents reported.
“They [junta troops] are targeting civilians, so residents no longer dare stay. The town is now empty except for a few people. The military is not shooting at the TNLA but at us, the civilians,” said Sai Khon, 64, who has opted to stay alone at home in Namtu.
Escalating tensions between the TNLA and regime troops have prompted fears that close urban warfare could break out at any time.
The TNLA said regime Y12 aircraft dropped 28 bombs on Namtu town and nearby Kho Hpeik village on Monday. Light Infantry Battalion 324 also fired 19 shells into civilian areas of the town and nearby villages on the same day, it added.
Hundreds of civilians have fled the town each day since the clashes erupted. However, the road connecting Namtu with Kyaukme and Lashio was blocked by regime forces on Monday, leaving some 700 Namtu residents stranded in Mansan village and around 130 in Hsipaw Township, according to local rescue teams.
The TNLA attacked the township’s Light Infantry Battalion 324 base at 7 am on Tuesday. A regime fighter jet responded by dropping four bombs on Namtu in the afternoon while a helicopter gunship strafed the town and surrounding areas, said residents.
The airstrikes continued on Tuesday evening, with the few remaining residents unable to gauge the bomb damage as they hunker down in homes and makeshift bunkers.
The TNLA is a member of the ethnic armed Brotherhood Alliance, which has taken 10 towns and hundreds of junta outposts since launching its Operation 1027 offensive in northern Shan State on Oct. 27.
