Around 35,000 residents of Pauk Township in Magway Region have fled their homes due to a regime counteroffensive, the National Unity Government (NUG) Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management reported on Monday.
The U.N. estimates that there are 3.6 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Myanmar.
Residents in Pauk, Myaing, Seikphyu and Yesagyo townships told DVB that regime forces launched a counteroffensive against the People’s Defence Force (PDF) in late October after resistance forces seized two regime outposts in Pauk, which is located 136 miles (218 km) north of the region’s capital Magway.
A PDF member told DVB that each regime column has at least 200 troops and is supported by artillery and the Myanmar Air Force. He added that the PDF is “struggling” to source ammunition after regime forces blocked the roads into central Burma from Mogok Township in Mandalay Region and Nawnghkio Township in northern Shan State.
Regime forces recaptured Nawnghkio from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) on July 16.
The TNLA informed its allied resistance forces, including the PDF, that it will escort regime forces into Mogok when it completes its withdrawal on Nov. 29.
The regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) announced that it will not hold elections in Magway’s Saw, Htilin, Pauk, Myaing and Yesagyo townships, which are either fully or partially controlled by the PDF.
The regime’s 2025-26 elections are scheduled to begin on Dec. 28 and continue into January 2026, Magway Region has a total of 25 townships.
