Between April 15 and May 16, 2024, SAC airstrikes, shelling and landmines killed seven villagers and injured twenty-three in Nawngkhio and Mong Mit townships, northern Shan State, causing the displacement of over 3,000 villagers in Nawngkhio and Pyin Oo Lwin townships. The SAC attacks also damaged about 100 houses.

On April 14, the Mandalay PDF launched a rocket attack on the Defence Services Academy in Pyin Oo Lwin, where the SAC chairman was resting during the New Year festival. Fighting then spread to villages along the border between Pyin Oo Lwin and Nawngkhio townships.

In the morning of April 15, the Mandalay PDF attacked SAC forces stationed near Koong Mark Mong (Thayetgone) village, in Nawngkhio township, about 15 kilometers northeast of Pyin Oo Lwin. Shells from SAC troops landed in Thayetgone, hitting a historical temple, which was burned to ashes, and damaging another three houses.

The fighting spread to Jali, Pa Hup and other nearby villages in Nawngkhio township. SAC troops then launched airstrikes and indiscriminately shelled at the villages.

In the morning of April 19, the SAC launched an airstrike on Jali village with 2 jet fighters. The bombing killed a 23-year-old man in the village and injured another man in his sixties from Sarmser (Samasay) village, who was taken for medical treatment at Pyin Oo Lwin hospital.

That day around 11 pm, even though there was no fighting in the region, two SAC jet fighters bombed Ye Pone village, about 35 kms east of Mong Mit town, damaging three houses and killing a cow. The next day at around 10 am, a joint All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) and Kachin PDF force clashed with SAC troops on the main road between Mong Mit and Thabeikkyin, causing traffic to be blocked. A shell fired by SAC troops hit an ambulance on this road, injuring a monk and two other civilians being transported from Mong Mit to Mandalay for medical treatment.

On April 20, shells from SAC troops landed in Thayetgone temple and killed a monk aged around 50. The next day in the morning, a SAC airstrike killed two women aged about 30 in Thapyegone village.

Between April 15 to May 5, SAC continued launching airstrikes and shelling from Pyin Oo Lwin town into Thayetgone, Jali, Nyaung Gone and nearby villages, damaging about 60 houses in Nyaung Gone village alone.

Due to the airstrikes, by early May over 3,000 residents of 30 villages in Nawngkhio township and nearby areas of Pyin Oo Lwin, including Thayetgone, Kamkaw, Jali, Pa Hup, Pang Kham, Na Paen, and Nyaung Gone villages, had fled their homes, sheltering in Bant Bwe, Inn Wai, and Nyaung Gone temples, staying with their relatives in nearby villages, or hiding in the forest.

On May 9, morning around 7 am, three male IDPs aged around 30 who had sought refuge in Bant Bwe temple, went back to Jali village in order to see their sugar-cane farms. They stepped on a landmine laid by SAC troops at their village entrance, and had to go to Pyin Oo Lwin hospital for medical treatment.

On May 10, at around 8 pm, SAC troops stationed at Oom Mark Dee village indiscriminately shelled into Thonze village even though there was no fighting. The shell damaged a house, killing a man and a woman aged around 30, and injuring four other villagers.

On May 15 at around 10 pm, SAC troops stationed near Bant Bwe village shelled three times into Thonze village even though there was no fighting. The shells landed in the village, injuring seven villagers and damaging about ten houses.

On May 16, at around 9 pm, SAC troops stationed at Taungtalone village indiscriminately shelled into Pa Pub village, killing a woman aged around 30 and a 16-year-old girl, and injuring another five villagers.

Contact:

Sai Hor Hseng – 66 99 246 5673/  66 94 728 6696 Signal  (Shan, English)

Ying Leng Harn – 66 99 289 6080  Signal (Burmese)

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