Myanmar Regime Deploys Starvation Strategy in Magwe Region

Myanmar regime forces have blocked the flow of food and medicines to civilians in Pakokku, Magwe Region, in a bid to recapture the district from resistance groups, residents reported on Tuesday.

Situated along the Irrawaddy River, Pakkoku District serves as a strategic road junction between Chin State in the west and Sagaing Region to the north.

According to locals, regime troops occupying Pakokku, Myaing, and Yesagyo towns halted supplies to surrounding areas around May 13. Resistance groups control most of the district’s rural territory, frequently attacking regime targets in the towns.

“[Soldiers] are blockading the Pakokku town entrance, preventing people and traders from transporting food and medicine out of the town,” a rural resident told The Irrawaddy. He added that while he currently has enough food, he worries about running out if the blockade is prolonged.

A volunteer helping displaced people in Magwe Region confirmed the blockade appeared to be targeting Pakkoku District townships under martial law.

“We can’t even carry a roselle plant out of the towns,” he said.

Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing extended martial law across nine regions and 60 townships on April 23, shortly after being installed as president of the new pseudo-civilian regime.

On May 14, just a day after blockading the district, regime forces launched an offensive near Myithchay, 24km from Pakkoku, forcing around 20,000 residents to flee.

A resident of neighboring Yesagyo township said that while regime troops had not yet entered his area, the supply cutoff had forced locals to rely on one another for food.

Meanwhile, the parallel National Unity Government reported that 5,600 residents fled their homes in neighboring Pauk township after the regime dispatched troops from the KaPaSa 22 ordnance plant in Seikphyu Township on May 17.

Additionally, three regime gyrocopters from the Northwestern Command in Monywa, Sagaing, attacked the Myaing and Pauk border on Monday, according to a local media outlet.