Residents have fled from Thae Note Sut Village and three other villages following a junta airstrike on Thae Note Sut in Sagaing Region’s Homalin Township, on 12 February 2025.

The airstrike on Thae Note Sut Village injured a man and a woman and destroyed several houses.

Thae Note Sut Village is in an area of Homalin Township controlled by the Homalin People's Defence Force (PDF). At the time of the airstrike there was no ongoing fighting in the area.

Following the 12 February airstrike, junta reconnaissance aircraft continued to circle the area, causing residents of Thae Note Sut and three nearby Homalin PDF controlled villages, Yaepawmee (Yebawmi), Taungu, and Tarmeipoke, to flee to the junta controlled Homalin Town, according to a resident of Homalin Town who is assisting the displaced villagers.

She said: “Almost every day, planes fly toward these villages. Since it is a liberated [from the junta’s control] area, the junta carried out unprovoked bombings without any active fighting. Now, locals from Thae Note Sut and nearby villages are flocking to Homalin Town for shelter.”

Residents of Thae Note Sut started fleeing on the day of the airstrike, 12 February, whilst the residents of the other three villages started fleeing the next day, 13 February.

About 5,000 people have fled the four villages. About three quarters of them are sheltering in Homalin Town at monasteries and relatives homes, whilst the rest are sheltering in forested areas near to the villages.

The aforementioned Homalin Town resident said: “Like Thae Note Sut, Yaepawmee and Tarmeipoke are also PDF strongholds. Now that planes are flying over these villages, the locals are afraid to stay. Many have evacuated to Homalin Town, while some are seeking refuge in the forest.

Currently Homalin Township is disputed territory. In November 2024, Homalin PDF captured five villages in Homalin Township that it currently controls: Narmaw, Hmanhong, Naungpoaung, Ngunsi, and Parhoke.

The junta-aligned ethnic armed organisation (EAO) the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA) controls the rest of Homalin Township, including Homalin Town. Homalin PDF and the SNF have been fighting each other in Homalin Township.

Thae Note Sut Village is about 32 km away from Homalin Town, on the border of Kachin State’s Hpakant Township in a strategically important area.