Almost daily air attacks on Lashio, the capital of northern Shan State, are sending residents fleeing again after they had just returned when the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) took control of the town.
The MNDAA seized control of Lashio, where the Myanmar military’s North Eastern Command was based, on Aug. 3 after a month of fighting. Residents who had fled started returning in the third week of August after the MNDAA restored electricity, phone and internet services.
But according to the MNDAA on Monday, regime fighter jets have strafed the town nine times over the past month, killing six civilians and injuring 77. Early Friday morning the regime dropped another four 500-lb bombs on Lashio, wounding a civilian and damaging many buildings, residents said.
“The regime has been targeting Lashio with air raids since late August and dropping high-explosive bombs daily since Sept. 20,” one source said. “People are frightened and fleeing again. The regime is blatantly committing war crimes despite knowing that residents had returned.”
Air attacks are carried out mostly at midnight and target mainly residential areas.
One resident said: “We can no longer stay in Lashio. There have been continuous air attacks. We don’t know when and where the bombs will fall. I have fled with my whole family, and we didn’t even leave someone behind to take care of our home.”
Locals have fled to Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin in Mandalay Region and Taunggyi in southern Shan State, where they are struggling to pay rent and buy food and other necessities.
Residents are terrified by the daily bombing raids, said Ko Gam Sai, a local who has been helping people displaced by the fighting.
“They want to flee but, not everyone can afford it,” he added.
One resident who escaped Lashio together with two family members said: “The regime is bombing the town to drive us away. We have fled to Mandalay, where my eldest daughter lives, but it cost more than 7 million kyats for the three of us to get to Mandalay. The bus fare alone cost 1.5 million kyats a head.”
Lashio consists of 12 wards, some 90 percent of whose residents had fled the fighting between the regime and MNDAA. Many who returned once the fighting abated are fleeing again, but some remain.
The MNDAA has warned them not to gather socially and stay alert for air raids. Those injured in the bombing are being treated in the town’s public hospital.
The MNDAA has denounced the regime as “shameless” and accused it of typical terrorist tactics in bombing residential areas and schools.
