At least seven people were killed by airstrikes in Rakhine State and Mandalay Region on Wednesday, as Myanmar’s military continues its relentless attacks on areas controlled by its opponents.
According to local sources, an aerial assault left three people dead and three others injured in Kyauktaw, a town in northern Rakhine State under the control of the Arakan Army (AA), late Wednesday.
Bombs dropped on the town’s Ywarma Ward also destroyed at least 10 houses, said a local man who spoke to Myanmar Now on Thursday.
“People are frightened. Some are fleeing,” the man said, adding that the town was also hit twice last month, on April 13 and 19, killing one person and injuring 24 others.
The attack came a day after one on the village of Htun Ya Wai in northern Rakhine’s Rathedaung Township that killed 12 people, including a two-year-old girl, according to AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha.
“This is a major war crime. The junta must be held accountable and responsible for the crimes they have committed,” he said in a statement released on the day of the attack.
Meanwhile, four others were also reported dead on Wednesday following an airstrike on a village in Mandalay Region’s Kyaukpadaung Township.
Laypin, located about 35 miles northeast of the town of Kyaukpadaung, was targeted twice early in the day, with bombs falling just outside of the village, sources there said.
No casualties were reported in those initial strikes, but at around 3pm, the junta warplane returned and dropped more bombs between two houses in the southern part of the village, according to a female resident.
“They circled over the village and attacked. The people in the house where the bomb fell were cutting cattle feed, and when the aircraft came, they hid in the toilet. The bomb fell near the toilet and killed everyone. People in neighbouring houses were also hit,” said the woman.
“They dropped bombs in the early morning, and thinking they wouldn’t come back again, people returned to their homes.”
The deceased were identified as married couple Win Htwe and Win Thu Zar, both 38 years old, and their aunts, 53-year-old Myint Myint Win and 65-year-old Win Kyi.
Three 18-year-old boys and three women who were also cutting cattle feed at Win Htwe’s house were among the injured.
Myanmar’s military has been launching daily airstrikes in resistance-held areas across the country in recent weeks, despite declaring a ceasefire in the wake of a devastating earthquake in late March.
On Monday, a deadly assault on a school in Oe Htein Twin, a village in Sagaing Region’s Depayin Township, killed 22 children and two teachers, and left at least 100 others injured.
There have been at least 60 confirmed deaths from junta airstrikes since May 10, according to multiple reports.
