In Pale Township, Sagaing Region, junta troops have intensified operations after Bo Nagar, a former self-proclaimed resistance leader defected to the junta, forcing residents from 12 villages to flee en masse.

Bo Nagar, the former leader of the Burma National Revolutionary Army (BNRA) in Pale Township, defected to the junta on February 19. Since then, the junta has deployed massive forces to conduct operations in the area.

Using intelligence from Bo Nagar and former BNRA members, the junta is precisely identifying and burning down hideouts of resistance fighters and their families in Pale Township, according to locals.

“This time, the junta’s operations were different from before. The soldiers knew exactly which villages and which houses the resistance members and their families lived in, and they went straight to those homes and burned them down. It felt like the resistance had been stabbed in the back. They didn’t even know who they could trust anymore,” said a Pale resident.

Heavy clashes have been taking place between the junta and the People's Defence Force (PDF) around Monthwin Village in Pale Township since the afternoon of February 28.

After suffering heavy casualties in the fighting, the junta bombed the area with two jet fighters during the day and carried out airstrikes using paramotors at night.

Residents of 12 villages, including Monthwin, Kanpauk, Kyunbo, and Chinpyit, have now been displaced. In Monthwin, junta troops burned residents’ homes and farming equipment.

“The junta is trying to gain the upper hand not only with its troop strength but also through information warfare. The situation is very tense. The soldiers have been burning villages to instill fear among the population. But the resistance coalition is also fighting back with everything it has,” a local military analyst said.

As of March 3, military tensions in Pale Township continue to rise, thousands of locals have taken refuge in nearby forests and are enduring difficult conditions.