Several civilians were killed and others injured when military junta troops opened fire on a monastery with heavy artillery in Letpantaw Village, Yinmarbin Township, Sagaing Region at around 11 a.m. on 8 March, local residents told Mizzima.

The exact casualty count is currently unclear.

According to local residents, about 70 junta troops stationed in Phayar Kone in Letpantaw Village shot at the monastery with heavy artillery.

"An artillery shell landed on the monastery. About six people were killed in a house in Letpantaw Village. They were civilians. They [junta troops] fired on monasteries. They also shot at the school in Kan Thar Village,” a local resident told Mizzima.

IDPs were staying in the monastery's dining room when the artillery shells exploded. As Mizzima was interviewing villagers in the afternoon, the sound of junta artillery shelling and gunfire could be heard over the phone.

At the time of this writing, IDPs from the Letpantaw Village monastery and those hiding at the Kan Thar Village monastery adjacent to the village were still trapped by heavy artillery fire.

In addition, many local residents in Shan Ywa, Kyun Taw, Ohn Taw and Shwe Nyaung Pin villages are fleeing. “People are taking refuge in monasteries and praying halls. The junta’s troops are deliberately shooting these places,” said a local resident.

In Yinmarbin Township, the military regime has deployed its troops and is conducting a series of offensives, targeting civilians and setting fire to civilian homes, according to local residents.

Junta forces have cut off the internet in many parts of Sagaing Region and the mobile internet has been cut off in Yinmarbin Township where there is currently fighting.