Tens of thousands of people in upcountry Sagaing Region have been forced to flee their homes after junta raids and are in urgent need of food and medical supplies.
Four helicopters landed junta troops in Tabayin Township in Sagaing on Monday. The soldiers started raiding villages the following day, displacing some 30,000 residents from around 20 villages in the township, according to local sources.
“There might be even be 35,000 people including Ye-U Township residents. They [junta forces] entered the villages on foot. From where the helicopters landed, they raided some ten villages before going into the forest in the west of Tabayin. They raided villages in the forest, as well as villages on the border of Tabayin and Ye-U townships,” a resident told The Irrawaddy.
As well as looting homes, junta soldiers torched houses in three villages in Tabayin on Tuesday. Two groups of regime troops, one consisting of 100 soldiers and the other of 50 soldiers, are raiding Tabayin and Ye-U.
“There have been no clashes so far. They are searching village by village. They took gold and money and torched houses,” said another resident.
The displaced civilians are in desperate need of food and medicines.
In June, regime soldiers and local People’s Defense Forces clashed in Tabayin, forcing residents of around 20 villages to flee.
Over 30 people, including displaced residents and civilian resistance fighters, were killed in Tabayin in July when regime forces carried out raids and launched artillery strikes.
The military regime has been forced to use helicopters to bring in reinforcements to Sagaing Region, after mine attacks by civilian resistance fighters inflicted heavy casualties on junta troops travelling by road.
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