The junta attacked Northern Alliance members with fighter jets following clashes in the morning on a mountain ridge in Mong Yaw region of Lashio Township in northern Shan State on Monday.
A man, who wishes to remain anonymous, told SHAN, that the fighting near Wan Lon Kein forced vendors and customers at the weekly market to seek safety in their homes. ”Currently, Mong Yaw is completely quiet,” he explained.
Last Friday, the Burma Army (BA) fought with the Northern Alliance near Wan Hpa Hpaint. According to locals, more than 30 rebel fighters were killed and 20 wounded in airstrikes.
“I heard that BA fighter jets attacked a Northern Alliance training ground and that’s why so many soldiers were killed,” said a villager who preferred not to disclose their name. The source said three officers were captured alive in the attack.
According to another source, who also wished to remain anonymous, BA airstrikes were flown on the same day on a Northern Alliance camp near Mong Het village in Lon Moong village tract.
SHAN couldn’t independently confirm that there were any casualties from the airstrikes in Mong Yaw.
Northern Alliance members the Kachin Independence Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army maintain troops in Mong Yaw, as do the Shan State Progress Party and BA.