Myanmar’s military launched air strikes at the weekend just after clashes with fighters opposed to the junta in the Sagaing area, according to media and a militia member, as phone lines and the online have been also severed in some districts.
The Southeast Asian nation has been in crisis given that the army seized energy on Feb. 1, ending a decade of tentative actions towards democracy and triggering outrage at home and abroad and the setting up of People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) to take on the military.
The DVB news portal reported the air strikes occurred as the army staged an offensive in the Pinlebu location of Sagaing in northwest Myanmar, citing residents who heard aircraft and explosions on Saturday evening ahead of phone lines and the online went down.
A member of the Pinlebu PDF, speaking from outdoors the location, also confirmed by phone that air strikes had taken spot, but stated there had been no casualties amongst his group.
“We cannot contact them due to the internet and phone lines blackout,” the activist, who declined to be identified, stated of his opposition colleagues.
Reuters could not independently confirm any of the claims and a spokesman for the military did not answer calls searching for comment.
The National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow administration set up by ousted lawmakers and other folks opposed to the junta, stated an arms cache such as a rocket propelled grenade, modest arms and shells had been seized in the fighting. It stated more than 25 government soldiers had been killed.
There has been an upsurge in bloodshed in places like Sagaing just after the underground NUG declared an uprising on Sept. 7 and known as on PDFs to target the junta and its assets.
Earlier in the conflict, the military had at instances shut down the online, specifically in cities, in a bid to curb demonstrations.
Since Thursday, the military had reduce online access in 11 conflict-hit districts in Chin State and in the Magway area, the Myanmar Now news portal reported, citing residents and members of PDFs.
Last week, thousands fled from the town of Thantlang in Chin Stat, bordering India, just after fighting in which a Christian pastor amongst these killed.
Some militia groups have also claimed duty for blowing up scores of telecommunication towers run by Mytel, a partly army-controlled firm.
U.S.-based democracy watchdog Freedom House stated in a report published last week that online freedom slumped by 14 points in Myanmar- the biggest annual decline ever recorded on its one hundred-point scalejust after the coup.
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