Irrawaddy-Jan 24
There is almost nothing left of Tigyaing Town except ashes. About 90 percent of the strategically located town in eastern Sagaing Region has been destroyed by junta air and artillery strikes since allied resistance forces began battling junta troops to take control it almost three months ago, resistance fighters said. “Tigyaing has been turned into a field of ashes or a graveyard,” a former resident of the town told The Irrawaddy. Fighting has been raging in Tigyaing for nearly 90 days. A combined force of troops from the Kachin Independence Army, Arakan Army, All Burma Students Democratic Front, People’s Defense Forces and local resistance groups launched coordinated attacks to seize the town on Nov. 7. Control of Tigyaing would open a route for resistance forces in northern Myanmar to launch attacks against regime targets in Mandalay Region and block a route the junta uses to supply its troops in Kachin State, military analysts say. The town is on the Ayeyarwady River and is accessible by rail and road, as well as the river. It also borders Mabein Township in northern Shan State and Thabeikkyin Township in Mandalay Region. Before the fighting, Tigyaing was home to about 17,000 people. More than 130 residents – including children, women, monks, and elderly people – have been killed by junta air and artillery strikes since November, former residents say. An estimated 30,000 people from the town and nearby villages have fled since November. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmars-military-has-turned-a-strategic-town-in-sagaing-region-into-a-graveyard.html
