Residents of the TNLA-held northern Shan State towns of Kyaukme, in Kyaukme Township, and Hsipaw (Thibaw), in Hsipaw Township are fleeing in fear of more junta airstrikes.
The two towns, which are both in Kyaukme District, have been hit by 11 junta airstrikes in the past month.
The repeated airstrikes have caused residents of Kyaukme and Hsipaw towns to flee to areas they believe are safer. Most have fled to other areas of Hsipaw Township under the control of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the anti-junta Kokang ethnic armed organisation. These include Namlan Town where most of the displaced people (IDPs) from Kyaukme and Hsipaw Towns have fled to, as well as the Hsipaw Township villages of Hsutlan and Konethar which are the other side of Hsipaw Bridge from Hsipaw Town.
These IDPs are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
A resident of Hsipaw Town said: “When the towns get bombed, people just don’t dare to stay in their homes anymore, so many have fled. But those heading to Kokang [MNDAA]-controlled areas are being strictly checked by the TNLA at Hsipaw Bridge. Most of the IDPs aren’t staying together in one place, and there’s no proper support for them. Some are really struggling just to make ends meet.”
About 1,000 IDPs from Kyaukme and Hsipaw towns are also sheltering in the MNDAA-controlled Nawngmun Village Tract in Lashio Township, northern Shan State and are in urgent need of food aid, according to local aid workers assisting them.
A woman who fled from Hsipaw Town said: “These days, things are a bit quieter in Hsipaw and Kyaukme towns, but aircraft are still flying overhead. Business isn’t good. Some shops are open, but there are hardly any customers. Hsipaw Hospital was bombed, so there’s nowhere for sick people to go.”
In Kyaukme Town, many residents from the central wards have already fled to safer areas and people with agricultural and livestock businesses in the town are struggling due to a shortage of workers because of the ongoing crisis.
An owner of a pig farming business said to Shan Herald: “Right now, it’s time to clear weeds from the crop fields. If that doesn’t get done properly, farmers could lose up to 70 per cent of their harvest. And if the fighting reaches Kyaukme Town any sooner, the losses will be even worse. As for those raising poultry and pigs, they just can’t afford to abandon everything and flee. Kyaukme is already running low on animal feed, and when more stock comes in, the price is definitely going to at least double.”
Many of those who have fled from Kyaukme Town have fled to villages in Hsipaw Township’s Nawngping Village Tract, such as Nawngping, Pongwoe and Hekwi, joining another approximately 2,000 IDPs there who fled from fighting in Nawnghkio (Naungcho) Town in northern Shan State, according to aid workers.
Between 24 June and 22 July 2025 the junta launched 12 airstrikes on TNLA-controlled areas in Kyaukme Township, seven on Kyaukme Town, four on Hsipaw Town and one near Mongngawt (Mongngaw) Town. A total of 13 civilians were killed and a further about 30 were injured in those airstrikes, according to the TNLA.
Since the junta announced on 16 July 2025 that it had retaken Nawnghkio Town from the TNLA, residents of Kyaukme District have grown increasingly concerned that junta troops will soon advance toward Kyaukme Township and that fighting will break out.
The TNLA took control of Kyaukme Town on 6 August 2024 and Hsipaw Town on 12 August 2024.
