Junta assaults displace thousands during Myanmar’s Thingyan New Year’s festival

More than 10,000 civilians have been displaced in Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin Township since Sunday, as Myanmar’s military carries out a coordinated air and ground offensive during Thingyan, the traditional Buddhist New Year’s period, local sources said.

At least one civilian, a 14-year-old girl, was killed as the military used gyrocopters to drop bombs on villages near the town of Yinmabin amid clashes between regime columns and resistance forces that continued into Monday, residents said.

Two other members of the girl’s family were also injured, a local man assisting displaced civilians told Myanmar Now.

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The airstrikes coincided with the advance of two junta columns moving into the area from the north and the south. Each column reportedly had around 100 troops, including soldiers, police, and pro-military militia members.

Residents said at least 10 villages along the border with Pale Township to the south have been emptied as people fled into nearby forests and farmland to escape both ground raids and aerial attacks.

Many displaced families are sheltering in makeshift huts or with relatives, but traditional refuges such as monasteries and schools are no longer considered safe, according to the man helping the displaced villagers.

“Even monasteries and schools are being targeted from the air, so people don’t dare to stay there,” he said.

Thingyan, Myanmar’s most important holiday, is typically marked by religious observances and community gatherings. This year, however, many residents in the affected areas have spent the holiday in hiding.

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“We usually observe the precepts and pay respect to elders,” said a displaced resident from Yinmabin. “Now we can’t do anything. We are just trying to survive.”

Late last week, three men—21-year-old Wai Yan Phyo, 32-year-old Kyaw Thiha, and 38-year-old Thant Zin Win—were detained during junta raids in Pale Township and subsequently tortured and killed, according to local sources.

Their bodies were discovered buried behind a Buddhist monastery in the village of Chaung Kan on April 11. Myanmar Now has obtained and verified images of the victims.

A member of a resistance group aligned with the National Unity Government said one of the victims appeared to have been shot in the mouth, while another had his hands severed before being killed.

Junta troops also looted homes, taking food supplies, including rice and cooking oil, residents said.

Pale Township lies along a key corridor linking Sagaing Region with Magway Region and Chin State. While junta forces control the main towns, resistance groups hold much of the surrounding countryside.

Fighting in the area has intensified since February, when a local resistance commander known as Bo Nagar reportedly defected to the military. Junta forces have since increased their presence with hundreds of additional troops and stepped up both ground operations and airstrikes.

Sources close to resistance groups told Myanmar Now that the military is likely attempting to regain territory and disrupt supply and communication routes across central Myanmar, particularly in Sagaing Region, a stronghold of anti-junta forces.

The escalation comes as junta leader Min Aung Hlaing consolidates power as president of a newly rebranded “civilian” administration, raising concerns that military operations could intensify further in contested regions.

There were also reports that junta forces burned an entire village in Bago Region’s Nattalin Township to the ground on Sunday, days after airstrikes killed at least two people in neighbouring villages, residents said.