Five civilians from Shwe Phone Myint Village in Shwegu Township, Kachin State, were reportedly killed by junta troops, according to local sources.
A military column that left Shwegu Town on June 13 allegedly entered Shwe Phone Myint Village, where civilians were abducted and killed, an officer from the Shwegu Township People’s Defence Team (Shwegu PDT) told KNG.
“Soldiers killed civilians both inside and outside the village. Some bodies were found at the village entrance. Five civilians were killed in a single day. They accused them of providing logistical support to resistance forces and then killed them,” he said.
Preliminary information indicated that the victims included one woman and four men, although their identities have not yet been independently verified.
Local sources also reported that additional villagers have been detained, while some residents have fled the area due to escalating security concerns.
A local resistance fighter said junta forces are currently conducting offensives on four separate fronts toward villages which are under the control of a resistance coalition led by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Shwegu Township.
“Fighting has been happening every day, except for a brief lull on the night of June 14. Major clashes have taken place at a nearby junction. The situation has been very intense. Up to June 16, control of the area kept shifting back and forth between junta forces and KIA-led allied groups,” another local source said.
The junta is also reportedly providing artillery support for its ground operations from two positions: Shwegu Town and Ngarbatkonegyi Village.
Ground forces currently advancing toward KIA–controlled villages in Shwegu Township are reportedly drawn from Infantry Battalion 56 (IB 56), based in Shwegu Town, along with reinforcements that entered from Tagaung and Htigyaing via the Shwegu–Ngaroe Road starting June 6.
The junta has been reinforcing its presence in Shwegu Township since May 5, deploying hundreds of troops from the Htigyaing and Tagaung towns through the Shwegu–Ngaroe Road, according to local reports.
In response, the Arakan Army (AA) has also launched operations from the Hnawpingyi junction toward Ngaroe in an effort to secure control of the Shwegu–Ngaroe Road.
On June 8, two days after six junta military vehicles carrying reinforcements from Ngaroe arrived in Shwegu, the KIA issued a statement urging all civilians remaining in the town to temporarily evacuate. It also announced the closure of the Shwegu–Ngaroe Road.
