Three civilians, including a child, were killed in a State Administration Council (SAC) airstrike last week in Nawngkio Township, in northern Shan State, where no fighting was reported.

The SAC jet fighter killed a 10-year-old, a woman, and a man when it bombed Thone Sel village at around 11:30 am on January 11.

“They were all from the same family who were not able to escape in time when the jet fighter was coming,” said a man from the township. The family was struck with shrapnel, and several houses in the area, including their home, were destroyed. The man mentioned that SAC troops based at the Ohmmathee junction are targeting the village with artillery every day.

Soldiers at Ohmmathee junction and in Shwe Nyaung Pin village have been abducting travelers without cause since early January, according to another local source. He said they grabbed a man from Samma Sel village and his friend, tied them up with rope, and placed them by the road. The next day they were missing, and when villagers inquired about their whereabouts, the soldiers denied abducting them.

Locals say that the SAC has been sending reinforcements from Pyin Oo Lwin in Mandalay Region to the Ohmmathee junction since early November to prepare for a counter-offensive against the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in Nawngkio Township.

The second man said that the SAC “frequently arrests local youths in this area (along the Pyin Oo Lwin – Ohmmathee road). After a month of investigation, they release some from their detention camp.” However, some of them are tortured during custody.

The TNLA has been clashing with SAC troops in Kyaukme Lay, which borders Mandalay Region but is in Nawngkio Township. The regime recaptured Thanbo military camp from the Three Brotherhood Alliance, of which the TNLA is a part, in the first week of January.