Soldiers manning the junta's last remaining stronghold in Indaw Town, Indaw Township, Sagaing Region are using government staff, junta supporters and old people as human shields.
They are defending the Yeikkhar Kone (Supply Hill) base, in Indaw Town, in Sagaing Region on the border with Kachin State, against a Kachin Independence Army (KIA)-led offensive that includes members from local people's defence forces (PDFs) such as Indaw PDF and fighters from the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF).
Government staff who are still working and have not joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), junta supporters and old people are being held in the the Indaw Myoma (main) monastery by junta soldiers who are using them as human shields, according to an Indaw PDF officer who spoke to KNG.
He said: “The news that people are still trapped in the Indaw Myoma monastery is true. Initially, around 1,500 people were trapped, but now most of them have escaped. Some, mainly non-CDM staff and junta supporters, remain there. They also want to leave, but the soldiers won't let them. So, they are still confined inside the monastery and cannot go anywhere.”
Initially, when the KIA-led offensive to capture Indaw Town was launched on 16 August 2024, residents of Indaw Town and the surrounding villages of Nantthar, Aungkone, and Inpin, fled and sought refuge in forested areas.
But, around 1,500 of the town’s residents who were unable to evacuate in time were trapped in the town. Though most have now escaped, about 150 people—mostly non-CDM staff and junta supporters along with a few other civilians, including some elderly people, remain in the town.
The junta is now holding them all at the Indaw Myoma monastery. Some have already died and those remaining are facing food shortages and health problems, according to the Indaw PDF officer.
He said: “They are suffering from food shortages, and there is no healthcare support for them. We have heard that some elderly people have died because they did not have access to medical care, and there has been a case where a civilian died from injuries sustained by artillery fire due to being denied treatment.”
The person who died was a woman named Ma Kay Zin Kyaw. She died after she was hit by shrapnel from an artillery shell and denied medical treatment.
The junta has also been airdropping supplies to its soldiers at the Yeikkhar Kone base and flying reconnaissance flights which, combined with their holding of hostages as human shields, will make it harder for the KIA and its allies to capture the base.
Currently, the KIA-led coalition is attacking the base with artillery and drones but it has not yet launched a full-scale offensive against the base.
A resistance fighter from the KIA-led coalition said: “The battle to take Indaw Town is not yet over. Both sides are preparing for upcoming clashes. The junta is still holding out at the hilltop [Yeikkhar Kone] base, its last major position in the town, while resistance forces have taken control of most of the outskirts and downtown areas.”
Since the KIA-led coalition launched its offensive against Indaw Town it has captured the junta’s Na Bar Intersection base and its Japan Cave Hill military camp which are both just outskirt the town. Inside the town they have captured the Indaw Town Police Station, the general administration office and strategic defensive outposts on the outskirts of the town.
