Junta carries out over 220 airstrikes in TNLA-held areas of Shan State last month

By Admin 04 Sep 2024

DMG Newsroom
4 September 2024, Kyaukme, northern Shan State

Myanmar’s military regime reportedly conducted more than 220 airstrikes in areas in northern Shan State held by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in August.

The military regime carried out a total of 225 airstrikes — 88 in Hsipaw, 57 in Kyaukme and 80 in Nawnghkio — in northern Shan State and fired 1,457 artillery shells and three 500-lb bombs in August, the ethnic armed group said in a statement.

The regime’s airstrikes and artillery attacks killed 27 civilians, injured 70 others and destroyed 433 homes in northern Shan State in August, the statement added.

Fierce fighting between the military and TNLA is ongoing in Nawnghkio Township, with the regime using airstrikes during the clashes with the ethnic armed group.

Junta airstrikes have doubled across Myanmar since the Three Brotherhood Alliance launched “Operation 1027” in late October in northern Shan State, according to a report from the Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP) released in August.

It has been over two months since the TNLA launched the second round of Operation 1027 on June 25 in northern Shan State and allied revolutionary forces have since stepped up attacks on the regime.

The regime declared the TNLA, Arakkha Army (AA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) to be terrorist organisations on September 2.

The regime’s declaration of the three groups that constitute the Three Brotherhood Alliance as terrorist organisations has raised concerns and expectation that ongoing conflicts involving the Brotherhood Alliance and the military regime are only likely to intensify.