By Mandy / MPA
The locals report that Resistance Forces began an offensive to take control of Indaw City in the Upper Sagaing region on 16 August 2024, and as a result of intense fighting between the Resistance Forces and the State Administration Council (SAC) Army, 20,000 civilians from ten neighboring villages have been fleeing to safer places.
“Ooredoo phone lines are sometimes available in some places. It is difficult even to keep in touch with my family because it is only available occasionally. We have to make sure to connect when the phone line is available. We have to connect surely when we have the chance just to let the long-distance family know that I am fine,” a person who fled to Manle village from Indaw city said.
“There are over 20,000 war refugees including refugees from the city and 10 villages,” the in charge of Indaw Revolution-IR claimed.
Indaw City is located on the Mandalay-Myitkyina strategic road and SAC’s military, and educational institutions operated normally in that city.
War refugees said that they are encountering hardships in connecting with long-distance families due to the connection blackouts and lack of internet-provided places such as Starlink services.
“My family members didn’t flee at first. Later, the situation got worse, and they decided to flee. Resistance soldiers evacuated them to a safe place and so they are in a safe place now,” a person who had just gotten in contact with family members explained.
Currently, MPA doesn’t know the detailed situation due to cut-off connections in Indaw city and nearby villages by SAC but, according to the locals, a mosque and some houses were burned down due to artillery strikes and airstrikes.
“We can’t properly guess the current situation. The hill where the artillery base is stationed is still left to be captured. There, they built fortresses with bankers. It will take time to capture it,” a youth who knows the on-ground situation of battles said.
Due to the Indaw city capture battles, cars that come from Mandalay were trapped in Kyaungkone and Maezarkone villages as well as hundreds of cars including buses, boxers, and trucks trapped in Kawlin township.
Battalions of no.1 Military Regional Command of National Unity Government (NUG), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) are cooperating in offensives on SAC army’s bases and battalions located in Indaw township.
On 27 June 2024, Resistance Forces captured Nantha village where the Junta’s troops were based, and on 17 August, they captured Naba military base of SAC army located in the north of Indaw city.
