Fierce clashes persist after resistance forces seized Banmauk Town in Sagaing Region’s Banmauk Township, with the junta intensifying its use of airstrikes.

Banmauk, formerly held by the junta and its ally, the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA), was captured by the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) coalition on September 20. Since then, junta and SNA troops, who were forced to retreat from the town, have launched repeated attempts to retake it, triggering prolonged clashes as the junta intensifies its air assaults. Most recently, the junta conducted airstrikes on Banmauk Town on October 9 and 11.

“The junta carried out a series of air raids. On October 11, a Y-12 aircraft dropped 11 bombs over Banmauk, following an earlier airstrike on the town’s eastern part on October 9,” a resistance frontline source said.

The junta’s bombs did not target areas of active fighting, but instead struck residential wards in Banmauk Town, and nearby villages.

After a large contingent of soldiers from the junta’s Light Infantry Division 33 (LID 33) arrived in Homalin Town, Sagaing Region, on October 4, they joined SNA troops to step up operations aimed at retaking Banmauk. The junta has escalated its counteroffensive by deploying large numbers of troops and increasingly relying on airstrikes, according to resistance sources.

Ongoing heavy fighting and frequent junta airstrikes have forced residents of Banmauk and nearby villages to flee their homes and seek urgent assistance.

Banmauk People’s Administration has reported that residents of the town and around 15 nearby villages are fleeing daily clashes, with urgent needs for food, clothing, blankets, and mosquito nets for the displaced.

The displaced residents come from 15 villages, including Settaw, Kan, Kyaunglel, Pinhinkhar, Khamo, and Myitthaychin.

The junta’s intensified counteroffensive forced resistance forces to withdraw from Settaw and Khamo villages after a few days of control, with fighting now focused around these areas.