Fierce fighting for a strategic town in Sagaing Region’s gold hub, Homalin Township, entered its fifth day on Wednesday as the regime attempts again to retake it from the civilian National Unity Government’s armed wing, the People’s Defense Force (PDF).
Shwe Pyi Aye town lies on the east bank of the Chindwin River in northwestern Sagaing, less than 15 kilometers from the border with India.
On April 20, regime forces launched a fierce offensive to retake the town, which has been under the administration of the National Unity Government (NUG) for more than five months.
The NUG installed a civilian administration in Shwe Pyi Aye in November of last year after PDFs and allied forces seized the town.
A member of the Homalin Township PDF said the regime troops attacking the town have massive air and artillery support. “There has been continuous engagement to seize Shwe Pyi Aye [since PDFs took it],” he said. Junta jets are also bombing nearby villages, he said.
No casualty figures for either side have been released.
Resistance fighters say that the junta has pounded Shwe Pyi Aye with indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes since it was captured by the NUG’s armed wing on Nov. 23.
The latest attack comprises about 200 troops from the junta’s military and allied Shan Nationalities Army and Pyu Saw Htee militias.
Junta airstrikes have sent residents of the town fleeing for their lives.
In late January, the regime sent about 400 troops in a failed mission to retake Shwe Pyi Aye town. They included troops from the allied Shanni Nationalities Army forces. Resistance troops defending the town were hit by airstrikes.
Junta troops, however, were forced to abandon their mission in early February after suffering heavy losses in 10 days of fierce fighting.
The junta on Monday also launched devastating airstrikes on the resistance-occupied town of Khampat in Sagaing Region’s Tamu township. Three civilians, including a child, were killed and 10 more were wounded.
PDFs and allied ethnic armies captured Khampat in November of last year.
They also seized the district level town of Kawlin in Sagaing Region, but it was retaken by the junta in February. After retaking Kawlin, junta troops incinerated it.
