Residents of Myanmar’s Lashio flee relentless airstrikes

Hundreds of civilians in the rebel-controlled northeastern Myanmar town of Lashio are fleeing in the face of relentless junta air attacks as the military presses on with an offensive aimed at retaking territory captured by insurgent forces, residents said on Wednesday.

Insurgents captured Lashio on Aug. 3, one of the most significant victories for a three-party guerrilla alliance that has made major advances since late last year against the junta that seized power in early 2021.

But the junta now appears determined to recapture the town on a major trade link to China and is unleashing its air power to do so, residents say.

“The planes normally come when night falls,” one Lashio resident who declined to be identified for security reasons told Radio Free Asia.

“We worry about where they’re going to bomb, my home or others .. we pray no one gets hurt,” said the resident who is aiming to flee to the town of Taunggyi, about 25 kilometers (155 miles) to the south.

“It’s happening almost every night so we just can’t stay anymore and have to flee again.” 

Lashio had a population of nearly 250,000 but more than 200,000 have fled to Taunggyi, and other towns in Shan state such as Kalaw and Nyaung Shwe, as well as to the main cities of Mandalay and Yangon, residents say.

RFA tried to contact Khun Thein Maung, a military council spokesman for Shan state, to ask about the situation in Lashio, but he did not answer phone calls.

The intensifying conflict in Myanmar’s civil war has displaced more than 3 million civilians, the United Nations says, and there’s no sign of the situation improving.

The military has been shifting troops from southern to northern Shan state in a bid to recapture Lashio and other towns it has lost to insurgent forces in The Three Brotherhood Alliance, but at least for now it is mostly relying on its air power, rebel officials and residents say.

The fighting comes despite peace efforts by neighboring China, which has brokered several short-lived ceasefires over the past year, and a vow by the main rebel force in Lashio, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, to cease fighting and end its cooperation with the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, set up by pro-democracy politicians.

China has major investments in Myanmar including oil and natural gas pipelines running from Rakhine state on the Indian Ocean coast through Shan state to its border.

Lashio residents said that the telecommunications and internet access in the town had been cut since Tuesday, adding to a growing sense of panic.

“I can no longer communicate with home and the planes are bombing every day, so I’m worried,” said another city resident, who also declined to be identified.

Residents said it appeared that the MNDAA had cut communication links but RFA was not able to confirm that or to contact an MNDAA spokesperson for comment.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.