Over 50,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Kanbalu Township, in Sagaing Region, after junta soldiers entered the area, according to the Kyunhla-Kanbalu Activists Group.

An official from the group said that the junta had launched airstrikes on Kanbalu Township and was patrolling from village to village. They have attacked over 24 villages in the township and destroyed so much that the residents of 24 villages cannot return. They have had to abandon their homes and are now internally displaced people (IDPs)

The attacks were carried out by Light Infantry Battalions 361 and 368. On 16 May, Battalion 361 left and headed to Kyaypinet Dam, whilst Battalion 368 remained stationed in Chinmyitkyin Village, in Kanbalu Township, according to locals.

With the increased number of displaced people in Kanbulu Township there is an increasingly urgent need for essential resources such as food, medicine and shelter. They also need emergency medicine such as snake anti-venom to treat snake bites, according to the Kyunhla-Kanbalu Activists Group.

As of 1 May 2023, There were an estimated 1,827,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Myanmar, according to a United Nations (UN) report that said of those IDPs, 1,499,000 had been displaced since the 1 February 2021 coup.