Junta troops and allied Pyu Saw Htee militia have cut electricity supplies and driven more than 10,000 civilians out of their homes in Sagaing’s Kantbalu over the past week.
Around 120 junta soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 361 and militia have been attacking southern Kantbalu since the last week of September, forcing civilians from 10 villages to flee. The troops looted Nga Pyaw Tine village last week, two days after they occupied its electricity supply station, according to local charity Kyun Hla.
On Thursday, some 40 soldiers from the temporary outpost raided three neighboring villages and arrested three civilians from Inn Lae Gyi village. The troops returned to their artillery base in Kantbalu Town on the same day, taking the civilian detainees with them but leaving a substantial force in Nga Pyaw Tine.
The displaced civilians urgently need emergency supplies such as food and tarpaulins for shelter, the charity group said.
“Some troops remain stationed at the power station, so we don’t know when we can go back home,” one villager said.
Electricity was cut to Kantbalu and neighboring Taze Township after the troops occupied the power station, the Infinity Charity group reported.
“There has been no electricity for five days. People are facing hardships because of the power cut,” said a villager.
The military also conducted an airstrike in Kantbalu Township on Monday, according to locals.
“Reports that the military launched an airstrike are correct but we are not disclosing details due to military conditions on the ground,” a resistance member told The Irrawaddy.
Sagaing Region is a resistance stronghold where junta troops and allied militia are conducting a terror campaign of attacks and atrocities against civilians to deter local support for resistance groups.
Pyu Saw Htee militias are active in Kantbalu and neighboring Kyun Hla township, where they are forcing residents to undergo military training. In early September, more than 10,000 residents of southern Kantbalu fled junta raiders amid heavy monsoon rain.
