The military council has resumed airstrikes on areas controlled by the National Unity Government (NUG) in Tigyaing Township in upper Sagaing Region, according to local sources.
On 24 April, the junta’s airstrikes hit the market in Kanni village. As a result, seven civilians were injured, two of whom are in serious condition, according to a statement by Tigyaing Township People’s Administration.
The military junta stopped the airstrikes after the battle to capture Tigyaing came to a halt in February 2024. Then the junta’s airstrikes resumed after Thingyan, said a local from Tigyaing.
“It’s true that there were airstrikes. We can’t reach out to those villages (by phone). Now there are reports that fighting may resume and that we need to move out. Even the Nickel (China’s nickel mining project) will also shut down operations. The workers have started leaving for Mandalay today. They say fighting will flare up again on 28 April, but nothing has happened yet,” said a person taking refuge in Ohn Son village.
The PDF- Tigyaing issued an air defense warning to the public after the resumption of junta’s airstrikes on 24 April.
PDFs distributed circulars in the areas under their control urging civilians to dig bunkers or emergency trenches, not to gather in open spaces and to park vehicles including motorbikes, under cover.
The National Unity Government (NUG) and its allied ethnic resistance forces launched an offensive to capture Tigyaing Township in November 2023, but stalled after more than two months of the offensive.
Due to the fighting, more than 10,000 civilians were forced to flee to the villages on the other bank of Tigyaing, and they are facing food and shelter shortages, according to reports.
Sent by Shanni Voice.