SAC Launches Large-Scale Ground Offensive With 20+ Airstrikes in Pauk, Saw, and Kyaukhtu Townships, Magway — Civilian Displacement and Travel Warnings Issued

Myanmar junta forces launched a large-scale multi-township ground offensive with simultaneous air support in Pauk, Saw, and Kyaukhtu townships in Magway Region on May 13-14, 2026, conducting 20 or more airstrikes in a single day and triggering civilian displacement and travel warnings, according to Moemaka CDM Domestic News and Mizzima. The offensive represents the most intensive SAC ground operation in central Magway Region since the Salin Township burning campaign (May 5-7). The Pauk-Saw-Kyaukhtu axis is directly south of Sagaing Region and east of the AA-PDF operational corridor, making it a key battleground in the junta's effort to reestablish its presence in the Magway-Sagaing border corridor. At least one civilian was killed and multiple others injured in the Kyaukhtu and Saw airstrike components of the offensive. The combination of ground column incursions and simultaneous air attacks — which has displaced tens of thousands in Kani Township (Sagaing) and Thayetchaung (Tanintharyi) in recent weeks — indicates the junta is executing the same depopulation-before-advance counter-insurgency doctrine across multiple regions simultaneously. The Magway offensive began at approximately the same time as the SAC's Mindat/Kanpetlet bombing escalation in Chin State (May 13-14) and the sustained Kani Township campaign in Sagaing, reflecting a broad multi-front coordination of SAC operations in the first two weeks of May 2026. Also on May 14, five soldiers from Regiment (33) in the junta's Kani invasion force defected with their weapons to Yinmabin District PDF (47) — the third documented conscript defection from this specific unit in the Kani campaign.