NAYPYITAW, 11 August 2021, (TON): A three-day military raid on villages in eastern Depayin Township, Sagaing Region, has forced thousands of locals to flee their homes.

Multiple villagers who spoke to media said that junta troops were searching the Depayin villages of Namyar and Mayakan house by house on Monday, but locals from around 20 villages in three tracts had fled, afraid that their communities would be next. 

A displaced Mayakan resident told media “it’s not going to be safe if they start looking through the forests. It’s just one big field without any shrubs or bushes to hide in. The only place we could hide is in the water.”

The raids started on Sunday in Letyat Kone, Nyaung Hla, and Wea Gyi villages, where heavy artillery was also fired, according to locals. The night before, two military vehicles had been hit by landmines around four miles outside of Depayin town, near the village of Kya Khat.

Junta troops who had previously raided Wea Gyi then came to Namyar and Mayakan in two groups on Monday morning, according to locals, who then fled.

In the three days since the attack on the military vehicles, junta troops have occupied at least six villages within 15 miles of the area where the landmine blasts happened.

A Namyar resident said while in hiding “We’re monitoring the village from where we are. We didn’t see any fire but they were going through the houses one after another, taking the things they wanted.”