Myanmar Junta Flotilla Advances Upstream Toward Kachin State Amid Airstrikes and Shelling

A 15-vessel Myanmar military flotilla carrying an estimated three brigades of troops is pushing upstream along the Ayeyarwady River toward Kachin State, shelling riverside communities and triggering air reconnaissance along its route, local resistance forces report. The fleet—comprising two attack vessels, eight cargo ships, four bulk carriers, and a sand dredger—departed Mandalay's Gaw Wein jetty on August 23 and entered Tigyaing Township in Sagaing Region on August 24.