Fifteen regime troops and six People’s Defence Force (PDF) members were killed during fighting over control of four regime outposts in Butalin Township, Sagaing Region, on Dec. 28, the first voting day of the regime’s 2025-26 elections.
“We held [Butalin] for nine hours following the fighting. But we had to retreat due to a shortage of ammunition,” a PDF member told DVB on the condition of anonymity, adding that the town is now surrounded by the PDF and they have faced retaliatory airstrikes from the Myanmar Air Force. No casualties were reported, according to another PDF member.
The National Unity Government (NUG) stated on Dec. 30 that an unknown number of residents from 30 villages in Butalin have been displaced from their homes due to the fighting. Butalin is located 23 miles (37 km) north of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa.
The regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) scheduled the second phase of elections in 11 townships, including Butalin, on Jan. 11.
At least nine civilians were killed and over 20 others were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Air Force on Dec. 27 in Khin-U Township, 48-70 miles (77-112 km) northeast of Butalin and Monywa, residents told DVB.
A member of the NUG People’s Administration Team (PAT) in Khin-U told DVB that bombs were dropped by the Air Force on a road where over 500 vehicles have been stranded since Dec. 10 due to a military blockade into the town. The road connects Shwebo in Sagaing Region to the Kachin State capital Myitkyina.
Seven civilians were killed by airstrikes and gyrocopter attacks along the same road in Khin-U on Dec. 18, the PAT member added. Commuters along the Shwebo-Myitkyina road told DVB that they were told it would reopen after the regime elections conclude after phase three of voting on Jan. 25.
Sources close to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) told DVB that it launched an offensive against the regime’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 309, which served as security for Sagaging’s Katha Township on Dec. 28, while voting was underway in phase one of the election. Katha is located 223 miles (359 km) north of Monywa.
The first phase of voting in the regime elections took place in 12 Sagaing townships. Another 12 of Sagaing’s 37 townships will not hold polls due to “a lack of conditions to hold free-and-fair elections,” according to the UEC.
