Thousands flee fighting in Myanmar’s heartland

By RFA Burmese2024.11.14

Updated Nov. 15, 2024, 11:45 a.m.

Read RFA’s coverage of this topic in Burmese

Fierce fighting between junta troops and rebels in central Myanmar’s Sagaing region over the past week has driven nearly 10,000 residents to flee their homes, sources said Thursday.

The fighting in Sagaing, along the borders of Mandalay and Magway regions, marks the first bid by rebel forces to take Pale, a key town in Myanmar’s “dry zone” region – the country’s breadbasket and a stronghold of the military since its February 2021 coup d’etat.

On Monday, the Bamar National Revolutionary Army or BNRA and allied forces launched an attack on a unit of some 40 junta troops stationed at the Pale Township General Administrative Office and police station, according to residents and rebel officials.

The military responded with airstrikes and artillery, as well as reinforcements, said Saya Naing, the station officer of the rebel Black Leopard Army, which is aligned with the Bamar National Revolutionary Army.

“They drop soldiers with four or five helicopters every day,” he said, adding that on Thursday, as many as eight helicopters had brought reinforcements. “Our forces are surrounding them, but a Mi-35 helicopter attacked part of the town this morning, destroying about 50 houses.”

On Friday, residents said that the military launched a heavy airstrike on Pale which, combined with the arrival of reinforcements, forced the joint anti-junta forces to retreat from the town that evening.

An official from the Pale Township Public Administration aid organization confirmed to RFA Burmese that rebel forces had withdrawn from the town on Friday.

“[On Thursday], jet fighters conducted four airstrikes, while Mi-35 attack helicopters carried out frequent and successive strikes throughout the day,” said the aid worker who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. “The Mi-35s only ended their assault after nightfall.”

The airstrikes killed several civilians, including Kyaw San, a 60-year-old electrician, 13-year-old Aung Myo Thant, and 35-year-old Win Ko, according to residents.

Nearly 10,000 people have fled the fighting since Monday and are in need of aid, said a member of the Supporting Network for People in Sagaing relief group.

“More than 2,100 households from 11 [nearby] villages and the town of Pale have fled from the intense fighting,” said the aid worker, who also declined to be named. “As of [Wednesday], the number of displaced persons has exceeded 9,500.”

The aid worker said that among the displaced are those suffering from seasonal illnesses, pregnant women and the elderly.

Four days of airstrikes

The junta has carried out at least 20 airstrikes over the past four days, killing some civilians, according to a member of the Pale Township Public Administration aid organization.

“Fighting is still escalating between the [rebel] forces and the junta forces,” he said. “We are evacuating as many of the residents as possible. We have taken out more than 200 people.”

The aid worker said his organization is still fielding requests to help evacuate civilians who were left behind as others fled the attacks, including the paralyzed and the blind.

“Many buildings were destroyed in the town,” he said. “As far as we know, three people were reportedly killed, while the actual number may be higher.

A resident of Pale township told RFA that everyone in her village had fled since the fighting began.

“We fled our homes since Monday amid frequent bombardment by the junta,” she said, adding that the military was “scattering bombs” around the village. “Entire villages are fleeing on cattle carts, by foot and by motorcycle. We are facing a shortage of food supplies.”

Casualty numbers unclear

A military analyst and former army officer who did not wish to be named told RFA that the BNRA would likely face higher casualties fighting urban warfare in Pale town.

“This is largely a tactical move rather than a full-scale operation [by the BNRA],” he said. “Due to Pale town’s proximity to the Northwestern Military Command, the junta frequently conducts airstrikes, which has prevented them from fully securing the town.”

The analyst said reports indicate that “many BNRA soldiers have been injured” in the fighting, although he could not provide details.

Allied rebel forces told RFA that the extent of casualties on both sides of the conflict remains unknown.

Attempts by RFA to contact Nyunt Win Aung, the junta’s spokesperson and social affairs minister for Sagaing region, went unanswered Friday.

According to residents, the military bombarded Pale’s Aing Ma village on Nov. 5, killing four civilians.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

This story has been updated to include information about the withdrawal of rebel forces from Pale town on Friday.