Junta forces bombed a market in Myanmar’s Shan state killing at least 15 people and wounding many, residents said on Friday, as a surge of fighting in the northeast and elsewhere took an increasingly heavy toll of civilians.
Allied groups have been battling the military regime that seized power in a 2021 coup across the Mandalay region, as well as in neighboring Shan state and Rakhine state in the west since launching an offensive codenamed Operation 1027 in late October.
A ceasefire agreed in January between junta forces and insurgent armies known as the Three Brotherhood Alliance collapsed in late June and fighting has surged since then.
Battles have been raging for townships in Shan state and the Mandalay region with junta forces resorting to airstrikes as insurgent forces make gains in several places.
An airstrike on a market in Shan state’s Hsenwi town killed 15 people on Thursday and critically wounded many, residents said, though adding that details could not be confirmed as telecommunications links had been cut.
“A plane dropped six bombs during market hours,” said one resident who declined to be identified for security reasons.
“It’s likely that some of the injured may also die because they are critically hurt. We still don’t know exactly how many, but there are a lot.”
Hsenwi is about 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Lashio, the main town in northern Shan state where heavy fighting has also been taking place trapping thousands of civilians.
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The military has not released any information about the bombing in Hsenwi and a junta spokesman did not answer telephone calls seeking comment. Li Kya Win a spokesman for the insurgent force battling in the town, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, which is part of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, also did not respond to calls seeking comment by the time of publication.
Messaging app channels supporting the junta posted videos that they said showed troops had cleared MNDAA insurgents out of state buildings in Hsenwi on Thursday evening.
But residents told RFA that no insurgents had occupied those buildings near the market.
‘No doctors’
In the Mandalay region to the west of Shan state, so-called People’s Defense Forces serving under the National Unity Government, a shadow administration formed by members of the civilian government ousted in the 2021 coup, have said they have captured at least two dozen junta bases.
Junta forces fired artillery into at least six neighborhoods in the gem-mining town of Mogoke, about 200 km (120 miles) north of Mandalay city, on Thursday killing 11 civilians and wounding 17, residents said.
Another member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, fighting alongside People's Defense Forces, claimed control of western Mogoke on Tuesday.
At least half of the town’s residents have fled, with many of those remaining struggling to cremate relatives killed in the fighting, said one resident, who also declined to be named for security reasons.
“Family members have been cremating their dead after bringing their bodies on motorcycles since last night,” he said. “They couldn’t contact the free funeral service volunteer associations because all the phone lines were cut.”
He said the communications blackout made it impossible to get an accurate idea of the death toll but residents identified four of those killed in artillery fire as Min Khant Kyaw, Ni Tot, Thant Zin, Ko Htwe and Tin Maung Aye. The other seven could not be identified.
There was also little help for the wounded, said a volunteer working with an aid association.
“There are no doctors or nurses in the hospital anymore. They left when the shelling became too intense and artillery started flying,” he said, declining to be named in order to speak freely.
RFA called Mandalay region’s junta spokesperson, Thein Htay, for comment but he did not respond.
About 30,000 people, or about half of Mogoke's usual population, are trapped in their homes after junta forces set up road blocks throughout the township as part of their campaign against the insurgents.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, is trying to occupy Mogoke and Shan state’s Mongmit, a spokesperson for the insurgent force told RFA.
The TNLA seized four military camps, as well as weapons and ammunition on Thursday and only four junta outposts are holding out in a 55 km (34 mile) stretch between Mongmit and Mogoke, said the spokesperson, Lway Yay Oo, who added that TNLA fighters were focusing on getting control of Mogoke’s east.
Junta attacks have killed 94 civilians and injured 131 in Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Nawnghkio, Mongmit and Mogoke townships from late June until Thursday, she said.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.