One Buddhist monk was killed and five civilians were injured by artillery when it struck a Buddhist monastery in Shwebo Township’s Nama Sayit village, in Sagaing Region, on Wednesday.
Resistance forces blamed the regime for the attack, which was followed by airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Air Force that injured at least seven other civilians at a temporary shelter housing those who’d fled their homes during a renewed regime counteroffensive in Shwebo.
Residents told DVB that search-and-rescue operations are underway and that the number of casualties may increase. Shwebo, 57 miles (91 km) northeast of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa, is partially controlled by local resistance forces outside of National Unity Government (NUG) command.
At least five residents of Shwebo’s Nama Sayit village have been killed by regime forces during three separate counteroffensives to recapture Shwebo from resistance forces since the uprising to the 2021 military coup began.
A member of a local resistance force told DVB that there was no fighting with regime forces at the time of artillery and airstrikes.
On Sept. 15, at least three residents of Kanpauk village, located in Sagaing’s Pale Township, were killed in five separate attacks carried out by gyrocopter, which is a miniature helicopter used for short-range, low-level attacks typically on defenceless targets, according to Bangkok-based security analyst Anthony Davis.
Pale, located 39-88 miles (62-141 km) southwest of Monywa and Shwebo, is partially controlled by local resistance forces. Residents in Pale’s Kapauk village told DVB that the gyrocopter targeted civilian areas, which would be considered a war crime under international law if proven.
At least 431 civilian deaths and 571 injuries in 1,525 incidents have been allegedly committed by regime forces in Myanmar’s dry zone, including Naypyidaw, as well as Sagaing, Magway, and Mandalay regions, according to DVB data. Sagaing reported the highest death toll at 177 killed.
The People’s Defence Force (PDF) seized Sagaing’s Shwe Pyi Aye, Myothit and Pinlebu towns in 2023-24, which are currently being administered by the NUG.
