Myanmar Regime Intensifies Airstrikes Along Kachin-Sagaing Supply Route
The Myanmar military has intensified airstrikes along the resistance-held Tigyaing-Indaw corridor in northern Sagaing Region near the Kachin State border, killing civilians.
The regime has deployed a 300-member column from the 33rd Light Infantry Division to retake full control of the route, supported by airstrikes. Junta warplanes dropped around 20 bombs on two villages along the route on September 23, killing at least five civilians.
The road linking Tigyaing and Indaw is controlled by the Kachin Independence Army and allied resistance forces.
The two villages in Indaw targeted by the regime are local trade hubs located on a detour. Five civilians were killed and eight wounded when cargo trucks trapped on the route due to a road collapse were struck during the regime air raid.
Resistance groups have been forced to build detours to keep cargo flowing, as the regime has blocked the routes between Sagaing and Kachin, said a frontline source in Indaw.
“The regime is deliberately targeting detours. The last attack targeted oil bowsers.”
The regime has blocked road sections between Tagaung, Tigyaing, Katha, Indaw, Mawlu and Mohnyin, as well as the Shwebo-Myikyina corridor, forcing passenger and cargo vehicles to use detours.
The regime has launched airstrikes as part of its preparation for ground offensives to retake the Tigyaing-Katha-Indaw section, said former Captain Zin Yaw, a Myanmar military defector.
“Troops from the 33rd Light Infantry Division have arrived in Tigyaing. So, there could be clashes in Tigyaing, Katha and Indaw, as well as in Pinlebu,” he said.
Meanwhile, artillery fire from Katha continues to pound the Katha-Tigyaing road, while the 300-member column has moved into villages in Tigyaing, using drones for reconnaissance. The army retook Indaw in April, but resistance forces responded with counteroffensives from late June, striking the Nabar junction as well as Indaw, Mawlu and Katha. Fighting has flared repeatedly since.
On September 23, the regime bombed villages in Katha Township, killing a nun and another woman, and wounding at least 20 civilians.
Clashes have flared this month near the border of Kachin and Sagaing, as well as on the Irrawaddy River, after the regime sent a flotilla to resupply its troops in Bhamo.
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