Update by the Shan Human Rights Foundation
October 9, 2024
SAC airstrikes inflict high civilian casualties in resistance-controlled areas of northern Shan State
SAC airstrikes and shelling between August 26 and October 6, 2024, in Hsipaw, Kyaukme, Nawngkhio, Namkham, Lashio, Mongyai and Namtu townships of northern Shan State killed fifty-five civilians, injured 139 and damaged over 450 buildings, including hotels, schools, universities, temples and a hospital. Although targeted areas included active conflict zones in Hsipaw and Nawngkhio, the majority of civilian casualties and damage were from airstrikes in resistance-controlled areas where there is no current fighting.
SAC airstrikes and shelling in Hsipaw, Kyaukme and Namtu townships
During the past six weeks, SAC has continued air and artillery attacks in Hsipaw town against Ta’ang Naitonal Liberation Army (TNLA) and PDF forces attempting to seize the SAC bases there. Between August 27 and October 6, airstrikes using 500 pound bombs and shelling from the SAC’s IB 23 base killed eighteen civilians, injured thirty-three, and damaged over 120 buildings, including three schools, three temples, a hospital and a hotel, in Hsipaw town and nearby villages.
Three airstrikes targeted villages close to China’s oil and gas pipelines, and five artillery shells landed near the pipelines, with one exploding only 100 meters from a pipeline control station in Kyaung Suu village.
On August 26 and September 2, SAC also carried out air and artillery attacks on Na Mark Kaw village — 30 kms south of Hsipaw town — which was occupied by Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) troops in the second week of August after SAC troops withdrew. The attacks killed three civilians, injured two and damaged three houses.
On August 27 and 29, SAC carried out night-time airstrikes on Kyaukme town, seized by TNLA and PDF troops since August 6. The airstrikes, including one 500 lb bomb, killed one civilian, injured two and damaged seven buildings, including the no. 2 High School.
On October 4, there were SAC airstrikes on Man Li and Panglong villages in TNLA-controlled areas of Namtu township, where there has been no fighting since last year. Bombing damaged three houses in Man Li.
SAC airstrikes and shelling in Nawngkhio township
Between August 28 and September 14, SAC carried out five airstrikes on villages south of Nawngkhio, where the TNLA and PDF have been launching operations against SAC troops based at Tawng Kham since mid-August. The airstrikes killed four civilians, and injured 14, including 8 novices injured when the temple at Inn Pho village was struck.
SAC also carried out air and artillery attacks on Nawngkhio town and nearby villages which are now under resistance control. On September 14, SAC dropped 500 lb bombs on Thabye Ye and Tawng quarters of Nawngkhio town, which injured a civilian and damaged 13 houses and a temple. In the early hours of September 18 and 19, SAC aircraft dropped 12 bombs on Say and Pu Tar quarters of Nawngkhio town, damaging 12 houses. On September 21, SAC aircraft dropped 5 bombs on the main market of Nawngkhio, damaging five houses and injuring a 50-year-old man.
Other attacks on resistance-controlled areas in Nawngkhio township included an airstrike on Inn Wai village on August 29, which damaged the Sinn Shweli no.2 sugar factory, owned by regime-linked Ngwe Yi Pale Group. Also, SAC shelling from Bant Bwe into Kyaung Gone village on September 17 killed three civilians including a 3-year-old boy, and an airstrike on Thapankaing village on September 22 damaged five houses.
SAC airstrikes in Namkham town
On September 6, at 1:30 am, while local residents were sleeping, SAC aircraft dropped a 500 pound bomb on Ho Kard (Market) quarter of Namkham town, which has been under TNLA control since December 19, 2024. At 1:33 am, another 500 pound bomb dropped on Pauk Ner quarter near the Namkham town market. The bombs damaged 70 houses, including a temple, killing thirteen people and injuring thirteen. Those killed included two children aged 7 and 12 and five women (including one who was pregnant). Some were killed immediately, and some died at Namkham hospital. Their corpses were cremated at Namkham hospital cemetery on September 7, 2024.
After the SAC airstrike in Pauk Ner and Market quarters in Namkham, local residents dared not stay in their houses at night. Some went to stay at local temples and some along the Nam Mao (Shweli) river bank.
SAC airstrikes in Lashio township
Between September 8 and October 6, SAC carried out numerous airstrikes on residential areas of Lashio town, which has been under control of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) since August 3. The SAC also carried out air and artillery attacks on MNDAA-controlled villages outside the town. The attacks in the town and surrounding areas killed ten civilians, injured fifty-six and damaged over 180 buildings, including seven hotels, two universities, two temples and the Lashio Technical High School.
On September 8, at around 4 am, SAC aircraft dropped two 500 pound bombs on Quarter 12 of Lashio town. The airstrike damaged 20 buildings, including a hotel. Ten vehicles were also damaged.
A resident of Quarter 12 said that the airstrike was so powerful that it shook houses within a 100 meter radius, terrifying locals that the death toll would be as high as in Namkham two days earlier.
On September 9, at around 10:30 am, SAC aircraft dropped two bombs on Quarter 1 of Lashio town: one at the local administration office (now run by the MNDAA) and another one at Byu-Har Street, near the regime’s former Northeastern Regional Military Command. The airstrike damaged five houses, including the administration office, killing one admin official and injuring 12 people. Two vehicles were also damaged.
On September 21, three days after the MNDAA issued a statement on September 18 announcing it would not form a military or political alliance with the National Unity Government (NUG) and would not expand military operations, SAC launched airstrikes on Quarters 2 and 12 of downtown Lashio, damaging eight houses and a motel.
In the early hours of September 24, SAC aircraft dropped four 500 pound bombs on Quarter 2 of Lashio town, killing two civilians, injuring fifteen, and damaging ten houses, two hotels and a restaurant.
Early on September 25, SAC MiG-29 and Yak-130 jet fighters dropped bombs on Quarter 2 of Lashio town, damaging the Lashio Technical High School, the Tat U monastery and ten houses.
On September 27, three SAC jet fighters dropped 500 pound and 200 pound bombs on Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 of Lashio town, and also strafed with machine-guns, damaging a large market, the Green Park Hotel and twenty houses, killing two civilians and injuring six others.
On September 28, at 8:37 pm, three SAC jet fighters bombed Quarter 8 in Lashio town, burning down a car workshop and damaging ten houses. Then at 9 pm, a SAC jet fighter dropped a bomb on Mae Harn village, in the outskirts of Lashio town, damaging five houses.
On September 30, at 12:34 am, SAC aircraft dropped two 500 pound bombs on Quarter 11 in Lashio town, damaging five houses and injuring two females.
On September 30, at 9:58 pm, SAC aircraft dropped four 500 pound bombs on Man Nar in Quarter 12 of Lashio town, damaging 33 houses and injuring nine civilians. At 10:07 pm, SAC aircraft dropped bombs 3 times on Kong Sar in Quarter 12, Lashio town, damaging five houses.
Early on October 4, SAC aircraft carried out two bombing raids on Lashio town. One damaged a Chinese temple in Quarter 5, and one damaged a restaurant in Quarter 8.
On October 5, at 10 am, a SAC jet fighter dropped four bombs on Loi Lawm and Ho Buek villages, in the southern outskirts of Lashio town, damaging the Computer University and Technological University.
On October 6, at 1:30 pm, a SAC jet fighter dropped two bombs on Man Ai village in Quarter 5 of Lashio town, damaging seven houses and injuring one person.
Meanwhile, SAC also carried out airstrikes and artillery attacks on villages controlled by MNDAA outside Lashio town. At 1 am on September 10, there was a SAC airstrike on a coal mining site close to Na Nan village, on the northeast edge of Namma tract in Hsipaw township. A bomb damaged two buildings belonging to Min Shwe Lwar company, which has been operating the mine since 2020 on behalf of the Burma Army’s Directorate of Defence Industries (DDI).
Before Operation 1027, Min Shwe Lwar was transporting about 30 trucks of coal per day along the Nam Pawng-Hsipaw road to the Crown Cement and Sinn Shweli sugar factories (owned by Ngwe Yi Pale) in Nawng Khio. After the start of Operation 1027, the number of trucks was reduced to ten per day, and when MNDAA began attacking around Nam Pawng in June, the coal mining operations stopped. On July 4, MNDAA seized the SAC base at Nam Pawng, and has since taken over the entire Namma coal mining area.
On September 10, at around 1:20 am, SAC aircraft dropped two bombs on the MNDAA-controlled village of Nawng Mawn, about 20 kms southwest of Lashio town, on the Muse-Mandalay highway. Seven houses were damaged.
On September 13, a SAC airstrike at Nam Pawng village damaged three houses, killing five civilians and injuring eight. On September 22, shells fired from the SAC base at Man Kard in Tangyan township injured two villagers and damaged five houses in Nam Pawng village.
Early in the morning of September 28, there was another SAC airstrike on Nawng Mawn village, south of Lashio town, which injured one man and damaged five houses.
SAC airstrikes and shelling in Mongyai township
On September 27, at 1:30 am, while local residents were sleeping, SAC aircraft dropped bombs on Nam Tong village, about eighteen kilometers northwest of Mongyai town. SAC troops based in Mong Yai also fired 4 shells at Nam Tong village, which is under the control of MNDAA troops and where there is no active fighting.
The bombing and shelling damaged two houses, and killed four people, including a 4-year-old girl, and injured thirteen, including seven novices who were hit when running out of the temple to seek shelter. The injured villagers were sent to Mongyai hospital. The four killed were cremated at Nam Tong village cemetery on September 27.
After the SAC airstrike in Nam Tong, hundreds of residents of Nam Tong and nearby villages dare not stay in their houses. Some have gone to stay at local temples and some to their farmlands.
Early in the morning of September 29, there was a SAC airstrike in Kawng Mawng village of Ho Ya tract, fourteen kilometers from Mongyai town, damaging five houses. MNDAA also operates in this area.
Contact:
Sai Hor Hseng +66 94 728 6696 Signal (Shan, English)
Ying Leng Harn +1 825 425 4099 Signal (Burmese)
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