Two women were killed when Myanmar military forces launched a two-pronged attack on villages on the border between Yinmabin and Pale townships in Sagaing Region on Wednesday morning, firing on the area from above and sending soldiers to attack on foot, locals said.
Two fighter jets carried out an airstrike on the area before a pair of helicopters dropped soldiers off at a site near the village of Nyaung Tan at 10am. They proceeded to raid the neighbouring communities of Pyar Oh and Yin Paung Taing.
A 33-year-old woman named Soe Soe—who was seven months pregnant—and her mother-in-law Nyein Nyunt, in her 60s, were killed in the attack on Pyar Oh.
The raiding troops captured displaced villagers who had been taking refuge in the Pyar Oh monastery and brought them to Yin Paung Taing, which they occupied next.
A local said that the junta forces were “using that village as a meeting point” and noted that they had blocked all roads in and out of the area.
Local anti-junta defence teams confirmed that two columns of Myanmar army soldiers had set up a base in Yin Paung Taing.
The village was targeted in both ground and air assaults by the military in August that killed some 19 civilians. Several nearby communities were also torched.
“They fired heavy weapons from aircrafts during the previous airstrike, but this time, the sound was not as loud, so I think they were using light weapons,” the local man said. “The aircrafts were hovering around an area several miles long and firing shots.”
Thousands of villagers from Yin Paung Taing, Pu Htoe Thar, Ywar Thit, Non Tan, Pyar Oh and Nyaung Tan villages were displaced by the military’s recent assaults despite there being no battles with resistance forces in the immediate area.
Maung Shwe Wah contributed to this report.
