Approximately 3,000 residents from seven villages in southwestern Aunglan Township, Magway Region, have been forced to flee their homes following a relentless three-day bombardment through artillery shelling and drone surveillance by military junta forces from 1 to 3 March.

The offensive began on the morning of 1 March when troops stationed on Hman Pya Taung Hill fired 27 artillery rounds toward Dazan village, destroying 27 houses and a monastery dining hall. Residents managed to take shelter after initial rounds landed outside the village perimeter.

“Since the artillery shells initially landed outside the village, residents had time to take shelter,” a responsible official from the Aunglan Public Organization said.

However, residents of Dazan village no longer feel safe remaining in their homes and have fled to safer locations.

The attacks escalated on 2 March with shelling from artillery near Bukgyi Bridge targeting the vicinity of Dazan and Si villages, followed by an operation on 3 March where junta forces used reconnaissance drones to coordinate eight artillery strikes on Kanzuninn village.

According to the Aunglan Public Organization, the displaced population which includes residents from Dazan, Si, Sintoke, Chingongyi, Indawthar, Innywargyi, and Kyauksaung is in urgent need of food, clean drinking water, and tarpaulins for temporary shelter as they remain in hiding.

Local resistance groups have warned that the use of surveillance drones may signal an impending ground offensive, urging the remaining population to stay vigilant as the military continues to reposition its heavy weaponry.

This latest surge in violence follows a pattern of intensifying aerial and artillery attacks in Magway Region, including a 1 March airstrike on a nearby trading junction in Mindon Township that killed over two dozen people, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in central Myanmar.