There is almost nothing left of Tigyaing Town except ashes.
About 90 percent of the strategically located town in eastern Sagaing Region has been destroyed by junta air and artillery strikes since allied resistance forces began battling junta troops to take control it almost three months ago, resistance fighters said.
“Tigyaing has been turned into a field of ashes or a graveyard,” a former resident of the town told The Irrawaddy. “Many people were killed in the [junta] bombing raids. The air and artillery strikes have become fewer compared to the early days, but clashes still take place almost daily,” the former resident of the town added.
Fighting has been raging in Tigyaing for nearly 90 days. A combined force of troops from the Kachin Independence Army, Arakan Army, All Burma Students Democratic Front, People’s Defense Forces and local resistance groups launched coordinated attacks to seize the town on Nov. 7.
Control of Tigyaing would open a route for resistance forces in northern Myanmar to launch attacks against regime targets in Mandalay Region and block a route the junta uses to supply its troops in Kachin State, military analysts say.
The town is on the Ayeyarwady River and is accessible by rail and road, as well as the river. In Sagaing, it borders Wuntho, Kawlin and Katha townships. It also borders Mabein Township in northern Shan State and Thabeikkyin Township in Mandalay Region.
A member of the Tigyaing Township People’s Defense Team said the town is now deserted.
“There are clashes almost daily in Tigyaing. We are conducting guerilla warfare in the town. When the fighting is fierce, the regime brings in air support,” he said, estimating that about 90 percent of the town has been destroyed by junta bombs.
The regime has sent large numbers of reinforcements and used heavy air support to force resistance troops to retreat from the town, resistance troops said.
The reinforcements were sent by boat on the Ayeyarwady River as well as by road from Sagaing’s Katha Township, a resistance fighter said.
“The military has retaken control of Tigyaing [Town]. They sent reinforcements from Katha. They have made a base at Tagaung nickel-processing plant from where they reinforce [frontlines]. We don’t have control of the [Ayeyarwady] river, but we are trying to gain control of access [routes] to the town,” the source added.
The regime has pounded Tigyaing with aerial bombing since Nov. 8, resistance forces say. It has conducted at least eight aerial attacks daily using Russian-made YAK-130 fighter jets. The jets drop laser-guided Russian-made KAB-500L bombs, while artillery units fire thermobaric bombs, resistance forces said. Unexploded bombs have been found in the town, they added.
One resistance fighter explained: “After we advanced into the town, junta troops retreated and attempted to attack us from behind. We were surrounded. Air and artillery strikes followed and so did [junta] reinforcements. So, we retreated.”
Junta troops deployed at two hilltop outposts near the town also torch homes in the town, resistance fighters say.
“They torch the homes blocking their view. Some five to 10 soldiers go and set fire to homes and then run [back to their bases]. We try to shoot them,” a member of Tigyaing Township PDT said.
Before the fighting, Tigyaing was home to about 17,000 people. More than 130 residents – including children, women, monks, and elderly people – have been killed by junta air and artillery strikes since November, former residents say.
An estimated 30,000 people from the town and nearby villages have fled since November.
The Brotherhood Alliance confirmed that clashes continue in and around Tigyaing. About 500 reinforcements have been sent by the regime to regain control of all of Tigyaing Township, according to reports.
