Junta troops continued to torch houses on Tuesday in Nat Chaung Village in Sagaing Region’s Kale Township, where junta air strikes have left some 20 civilians dead and displaced thousands of villagers since last week, according to local resistance groups.
Clashes broke out on Dec. 22 when junta troops raided the village, which is some 24 km from Kale. Junta soldiers were attacked twice with remote-detonated mines as they left the village after detaining some residents.
The following day, combined forces of the Kale People’s Defense Force, Chinland National Defense Force (Kale) and People’s Defense Force arrived to fight junta soldiers deployed at the village school. During the clash, two junta gunships attacked the village with machine guns.
At least 10 villagers were killed in the air strikes. Some houses were reduced to rubble and villagers were forced to flee their homes.
Sixteen junta soldiers were killed in the Dec. 23 fighting, the Kale PDF said. A military convoy carrying artillery was ambushed, and more than a dozen junta soldiers were killed in the blast, the group added.
Combined forces of local resistance groups again attacked junta troops deployed at the village school and monastery at around 6 p.m. on Sunday evening, and the fighting continued until 6 a.m. on Monday. Junta troops deployed at Kale Technological University provided supporting artillery fire, prompting the resistance forces to send a column of troops to disrupt the shelling, the groups said.
Two civilian resistance fighters were killed and six others were injured by artillery strikes in the fighting. Junta casualties could not be confirmed, local resistance fighters said.
Meanwhile, another group of resistance fighters attacked a junta outpost and a police station in Kale town at around 3 a.m. on Monday.
On Dec. 17, at least nine civilians and resistance fighters were killed during junta raids on Hnan Khar Village on Kale-Gangaw Road. Local resistance groups have warned against traveling on the road in southern Kale, as clashes are intensifying in the area.
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