More than 6,000 people in Myanmar’s Sagaing region have fled their homes because of heavy shelling and junta raids on their villages, locals told RFA Friday.
They said an infantry battalion of around 100 troops entered Khin-U township’s Pin Din village, prompting around 2,500 residents of nearby villages to abandon their homes.
At the same time, around 3,500 people abandoned villages in the southwest of the township because another battalion was shelling their homes with heavy artillery.
“Junta troops are raiding Khin-U township every day,” said a local who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals. “The raids only stopped for one day.”
One man died as he ran from his home during heavy shelling, the man said.
On Friday, RFA phoned the junta spokesperson for Sagaing region Tin Than Win to seek comment on the raids but he didn’t answer.
Four days earlier he denied any knowledge of current military operations in the region.
There have been repeated raids on Khin-U township this year. Residents and local defense groups said troops destroyed 6,000 houses there, leaving 30,000 villagers homeless.
Sagaing has the highest number of internally displaced people of all the states and regions in Myanmar.
More than 800,000 people in the region have been forced to abandon their homes since the February 2021 coup due to intense fighting between junta troops and People's Defense Forces, according to the U.N.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.