Daw Aye Mar’s youngest daughter begins trembling in terror as soon as the nighttime explosions shatter the silence of their household. The shells are fired by heavy weapons at the regime’s military base in Depyin Town, a couple of kilometers from her village of Let Yat Kone on the border of Depyin and Ye-U townships in Sagaing Region.
Daw Aye Mar rushes to soothe her three children, pushing aside the feeling of panic rising in her chest. The boom of artillery has become a regular part of village life since last year, but they never get used to it.
Residents of Let Yat Kone and nearby villages were rocked by five explosions on Monday night, the 78th birthday of detained civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
“We never sleep peacefully at night because they [the military] often fire heavy weapons,” Daw Aye Mar told The Irrawaddy.
Last September, regime forces killed 13 people, including seven children, in an aerial attack on Let Yat Kone. Since then, junta troops based in Depyin and Ye-U townships have been shelling surrounding villages frequently, despite the absence of clashes with local resistance forces.
“I’m always worried about what will happen when a shell lands on my house,” she said.
Junta military bases in both townships have been shelling the villages every other day for the last month, according to Depyin residents.
“This year, regime infantry have suffered heavy casualties during raids on villages, so they no longer dare to conduct ground assaults. Instead, they are pounding both civilians and PDFs with heavy weapons from their base camps,” a resistance fighter from Depyin Township told The Irrawaddy.
Daw Aye Mar confirmed that regime artillery is targeting thousands of residents of around 50 villages in Depyin and Ye-U.
People living in resistance strongholds and ethnic territories have been suffering regime airstrikes, arson campaigns, infantry raids and shelling since 2021, when the military seized power from the civilian National League for Democracy (NLD) Government.
Residents of Kayah, Karen and Mon states and Bago and Sagaing regions are bearing the brunt of regime artillery assaults.
Regime troops have killed 753 people around the country so far this year, with Sagaing suffering the highest death toll (433), according to the civilian National Unity Government’s Ministry of Human Rights.
In Kayah State, more than 300 civilians had been killed in artillery strikes and other regime attacks as of May, according to the Progressive Karenni People’s Force. In Moebye, a town on the border of southern Shan State and Kayah, 43 people have been killed and 44 injured in regime assaults that began last year, according to the Moebye People’s Defense Force (PDF). The attacks have also destroyed 680 houses and buildings in the state, including churches and temples. Much of the civilian population has fled, but the Myanmar military is now targeting refugee camps in Kayah State, Moebye PDF said.
In the first week of June, two civilians were killed and two were injured by junta artillery strikes on Moebye.
Maw Ni Ka, who fled her home in Moebye amid fierce fighting in 2021, said regime artillery bombardments have followed them to their IDP camp. The 38-year-old’s two daughters were killed by shelling in late September as they sheltered in Mway Taw Monastery in Moebye Town.
She relives the trauma of her children’s death every time she hears the boom of artillery.
The heavy weapons are being fired frequently at Moebye and surrounding refugee camps by Light Infantry Battalion 422.
“No matter where we run, we can’t escape. They shell the IDP camps both day and night,” Maw Ni Ka told The Irrawaddy.
“I’m constantly hearing news of internally displaced people being hurt and killed by the regime’s weapons. So, I live in a state of fear and insecurity,” she added.
The regime troops are relying on heavy weapons and firing at the people indiscriminately, said Salai Yaw Man, spokesperson of the Mindat people’s administration in Chin State.
Light Infantry Battalion 274 is targeting not just Mindat civilians but also the town hospital and clinics, he said.
“After drinking at night, they [junta forces] start firing at civilian villages,” Salai Yaw Man told The Irrawaddy.
Mindat is a gateway to Chin State on the border with Magwe Region, a resistance stronghold. The Chin Defense Force (Mindat) and PDF in Magwe Region are currently involved in heavy clashes with regime troops.
“We heard that the Myanmar military has sent ammunition to Mindat from Magwe’s Kyauthut Town. So, the regime strikes could escalate,” Salia Yaw Man said.
Residents said they are facing almost daily junta bombardments and are desperate to get out of the situation.
“I want to live peacefully. I really want to go back home,” Maw Ni Ka told The Irrawaddy.
In Sagaing, Depyin resident Daw Aye Mar said the people would live in fear and trouble for as long as idiots ruled the country.
“Now we are scared about ground troops, warplanes and artillery every day.”
