Civilians in northern Kachin State urgently need humanitarian assistance after regime fighter jets forced them from their village in Putao Township.

According to local sources, 1,000 villagers from Sumpyi Yang fled into the surrounding jungles with nothing after the junta launched an airstrike on 22 February after the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the People's Defence Force (PDF) attacked a military base three miles away.

“Everyone is suffering. Although we need food, we're afraid to return home to get rice,” a Sumpyi Yang man told NMG, asking that his identity be kept secret.

Two fighter jets first attacked the village on 3 February, injuring a 12-year-old girl and a 50-year-old woman and burning down several houses.

This year, the KIA and the PDF also attacked army camps near Lon Shar Yang, N'se Yang and Hpert Mar and Tang Ja, and many people were forced to flee in retaliatory attacks by the regime. Some have fled to the jungle or to Putao town if they have relatives who live there.