Four people including two women were killed in bombing by the military junta in NawnghkioTownship, Shan State, according to sources.
The junta carried out the bombing on Tha Yet Kone and nearby villages on the border between Pyin Oo Lwin and Nawnghkio Townships at around 10am on 21 April. Two women and one monk were among the airstrike victims, Nawnghkio locals said.
“Two buffaloes and a man in his 20s were killed in yesterday’s (21 April) bombing. Two women from Tha Byay Kone village, both under 30, were also killed. On 20 April, a monk died when the Tha Yet Kone monastery was burned down,” said a local man from Nawnghkio.
After attacking the military academy in Pyin Oo Lwin with improvised rockets on 14 April, the Mandalay-PDF went on an offensive on the military junta’s camp in The Yet Kone village only eight miles from Pyin Oo Lwin. The resistance force captured the camp on 15 April.
Following the resistance seizure of the camp, junta troops stationed at the Defense Services Academy/Defense Services Technological Academy in Pyin Oo Lwin and in Nyaung Kone village responded with intensified artillery and airstrikes, damaging or destroying monasteries in Tha Yet Kone, Zarli and Par Hat villages and destroying all the houses in Nyaung Done village, according to local residents.
Moreover, more than 3,000 residents from more than 10 villages in the surrounding areas of Tha Yet Kone were forced to flee their homes. The displaced locals are in need of food aid.
“The villagers had to flee for their lives. Some are staying in monasteries. Some are living in makeshift tents. With an entire village displaced, they have difficulty getting enough food. They are suffering. The artillery shelling is so relentless we can even see plumes of smoke rising constantly,” said a Nawnghkio local.
Due to the junta’s heavy artillery and air strikes, over 3,000 people from villages such as The Yet Kone, Gant Gaw, Zarli, Phyu Kyaung, Pan Hkan, Nar Pyan, Nyaung Kone, Par Hat and Si Son in Nawnghkio Township have reportedly fled to safer villages such as Bant Bway, Chay Myit Pin, Inn Wine, Kone Long, and Kone Thar and taken refuge in the monasteries there.
“Just yesterday from Hsamma Hse village, I saw two fighter jets continuously dropping bombs. They have been attacking from air day and night since 20 April. They have been using mortars, machine guns, and planes, dropping around 15 shells per minute. Their main targets seem to be Tha Yet Kone, Gant Gaw, Hsamma Hse, and Zarli and they are desperately trying to destroy these villages,” said a displaced man.
Also on 8 April, the National Unity Government (NUG) reported that the Mandalay-PDF had attacked the military academy in Pyin Oo Lwin with improvised 107mm rockets.
In the meantime, the junta has tightenesd security checks on roads into and out of Pyin Oo Lwin town, and increased troop presence around the town, according to locals.
Sent by Shan News.