Myanmar junta airstrikes have targeted Tigyaing Township in Sagaing Region amid fighting with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), according to the armed group.
The KIA and its allies launched attacks on junta outposts in Mya Taung village in the township on Tuesday.
Mya Taung is on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, facing Tigyaing town.
On Wednesday, the KIA and its allies seized Mya Taung’s junta outpost and three patrol camps around the village, according to Colonel Naw Bu, the KIA’s spokesman.
“Our KIA and allied forces launched seized the outposts and camps but the junta has since launched repeated airstrikes,” he said.
A Tigyaing People’s Defense Force fighter said combat continues around the village and has spread to Tigyaing, amid regular junta airstrikes.
He said the damage and civilian casualty numbers could not be confirmed.
Tigyaing in the east of Sagaing Region is seen as strategically important because the Irrawaddy flows through the township.
KIA and its allies seized Kawlin, a district-level town about 50km from Tigyaing in November last year, and fighting has continued in Tigyaing ever since.
Around 90 percent of the town has reportedly been destroyed by junta air and artillery strikes.
Clashes and airstrikes have also been reported by the Sagaing media in Pinlebu Township to the west and Indaw Township to the north as the KIA looks to prevent junta use on the Irrawaddy.
On August 14 resistance groups took control of Tagaung town in Thabeikkyin Township, about 50km south of Tigyaing, after a two-day battle. A Chinese-backed nickel-processing plant also fell in July.
