Junta troops and local People’s Defence Force (PDF) fighters fought near to Nyaung Pin Wun Village, about two miles south of Sagaing Region’s Kani Township, at around 7:00 a.m. on 31 May.

The fighting lasted for six hours. According to reports about 20 junta soldiers were killed and eight PDF fighters were wounded, though none suffered serious wounds.

Junta forces launched a one hour airstrike to support their ground forces, but accidentally machine-gunned the edge of a palm grove where junta soldiers were sheltering, according to the tactical operations commander of the Kyauk Lone Gyi (KLG) PDF.

He said: 'The battle took place between Nyaung Pin Wun and Tan Zay Chaung. When the military council troops marched in the fields between Nyaungbin Wun and Tan Zay Chaung, we shot at them with mortars and AK 47s [small arms]. A lot of the junta troops were killed in the field. We had the upper hand in the fighting. About two hours after the battle, the junta was reinforced with 40 troops which were divided into two groups. The fighting lasted for six hours. We used about 400 or 500 rounds of ammunition.”

The Military council’s artillery shells reportedly destroyed a monastery and three houses in Tan Zay Chaung village during the fighting.

The junta offensive caused people to flee in fear from the following Kani Township villages: Pann Sai, Nyaung Pin Wun, Nat Gyi, Tan Zay Chaung, Nga Phyat, Mu Htaw and Min Gone.