By Ko Paing / MPA
Over the past two weeks, Myanmar junta forces, supported by the Pyu Saw Htee militia, have launched violent raids in Kyunhla Township, Sagaing Region, displacing almost 20,000 residents, according to the Kyunhla Activists Group.
The junta column junta stationed near Kan Pauk Pyu Saw Htee Village in Kyunhla Township launched drone strikes with 60mm bombs, targeting Koke Ko Kone Village on Nov 20. Since then, they have reportedly encamped at the Kuko Ko Kone Rural Hospital and launched raids on nearby villages as of Thursday.
A member of the Kyunhla Activists Group told MPA, “Villagers are taking refuge in remote areas and distant villages. The junta forces are stationed at the rural hospital and continue raiding nearby villages, which are just about four miles apart. We have no access to those areas, so we only know the names of the villages that have been burned, but we don’t yet know how many houses have been destroyed.”
Villagers from Koke Ko Kone, Ta Kone, Than Pu Yar Pin Su, Hlut Taik, Ma Daung, Swea Hle, Mya Bon Thar, and Taung Yar Seik in Kyunhla Township, as well as Let Khoke Pin Village in Kanbalu and Ywar Thit, Aung Chan Thar, and Pay Ta Pin villages in Kawlin Township, have fled the junta column to safer locations despite the cold season.
The source added, “Four villages have been burned seven times.”
During the junta’s two-week offensive, Koke Ko Kone was set ablaze once, while Ma Daung, Hlut Taik, and Swea Hle were burned twice. The junta troops also looted residents’ belongings.
Additionally, the junta carried out 10 airstrikes and drone attacks on Koke Ko Kone and nearby villages in Kyunhla Township between Nov 20 and 24, killing one civilian.