A military air strike has sent thousands of villagers fleeing after clashes with a civilian resistance group in western Depeyin Township. According to latest reports, the attack forced over 2,000 people from their homes in Sagaing Region on Tuesday.
Locals said that fighting broke out between the Burma Army (BA) and the People's Defence Force (PDF) near Aung Si Myae village at around 7am on 7 December. Two hours later, a Russian made Mi-35 combat helicopter launched an air strike that lasted 45 minutes.
"The combat helicopter attacked PDF with machine gun fire and missiles. At noon, a helicopter arrived with soldiers. I think they called for reinforcements," a man from Aung Si Myae told NMG. He said two PDF fighters were killed, but he did not know if anyone from BA had died.
Villagers from Poung Tawng Ku, Lin Pyin Kwet, Tat Te Ashay, Tat Te Anauk, Mya Kan Tha, Aung Si Myae and Nagar Kwin were affected by the violence.
The BA continues to have a presence in Nagar Kwin village, where they are shelling surrounding villages with artillery, leading villagers from Te Gyi to join the displaced. There are 600 houses in Nagar Kwin and about 100 in each of the other seven villages.
At the time of going to press, the regime has not yet reported its attack in Depeyin Township.
On 27 November, BA launched an airstrike on Nyaung Hla village.
On 8 November, reinforcements in four transport helicopters were flown to North Eastern Military Command to support the BA's clearance campaign that's currently underway in Depeyin, Taze and Ye-U townships.
