Thousands of residents in Loikaw, the Kayah State capital, say they are being targeted by Myanmar junta shelling and airstrikes.
At least six airstrikes were reported in Loikaw on Thursday as the Karenni Army, Karenni Nationalities Defense Force, Karenni National People’s Liberation Front and other resistance groups attacked the junta’s administrative hub as part of Operation 1111.
Loikaw is about 200km from the junta’s nerve center, Naypyitaw.
On Friday resistance forces overran junta forces at the Loikaw District Court and burned the building.
Around 30,000 residents have left the city but many remain, according to volunteers.
“We cannot leave Loikaw because the roads are unsafe and people are getting shot and bombed by junta warplanes on the roads so we stayed at home,” a resident said.
She is sheltering with her family in a neighbor’s bunker.
There has been heavy junta shelling and airstrikes on Loikaw since Monday when resistance forces overran a regime base at Loikaw University, killing at least 110 soldiers and capturing 38, resistance forces said.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.
Another Loikaw resident said she was preparing to leave because of the airstrikes.
“It’s very frightening. People I know have been killed so I am preparing to leave,” she said.
Some residents, including the elderly and children, are taking shelter at monasteries and churches.
“It costs around 800,000 kyats to hire a vehicle. Some impoverished families cannot afford to leave,” a Loikaw resident said.
Volunteer groups in Loikaw are prevented by the regime from evacuating residents while over two-thirds of the city’s residents have already fled, with many heading to southern Shan State.
But regime troops and their militia allies at checkpoints and toll gates block access to Shan State.
A volunteer said: “It is a breach of humanitarian law if they do not allow them to enter safe areas. They should help displaced civilians.”
At least 34 deaths, including of five children, have been confirmed from junta shelling and airstrikes in Kayah State since November 11, rights groups said.
