As the world’s attention remains fixed on the devastation caused by a deadly earthquake that struck near Mandalay last Friday, the Myanmar regime’s attacks on enemies across the rest of the country continue largely unnoticed.
On the day of the quake, junta carried out airstrikes on Naung Len, a village located around 55 miles northeast of Mandalay in Shan State’s Nawnghkio Township, killing seven members of the Danu People’s Liberation Army and injuring three civilians, the group reported.
Later the same day, and around the same distance to the west of Mandalay in Sagaing Region’s Chaung-U Township, locals reported that regime forces were bombing villages from paramotors.
The next day, around 25 miles farther to the west in Sagaing’s Pale Township, the military fired on the area around the village of Inn Ma Htee, a known stronghold of the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia, a local resistance leader told Myanmar Now.
On Sunday, as the death toll from the earthquake continued to climb, the regime widened it attacks, launching airstrikes near Bhamo in Kachin State and drone attacks in Hpakant and Waingmaw townships, according to the Kachin Independence Army.
These attacks are still ongoing amid heavy fighting between the two sides, the group said on Tuesday.
Airstrikes were also reported on Sunday in Karenni State’s Hpruso Township, in eastern Myanmar, while on the country’s west coast, a junta drone reportedly dropped two bombs on a village in Rakhine State’s Kyaukphyu Township on the same day.
On Monday, the junta continued its attacks in Kyaukphyu, killing two civilians, including a Buddhist monk, when it fired on the village of Zin Chaung Kon Bway from a naval vessel at around 9am, according to a local resident.
“The navy fired three heavy artillery shells that hit the monastery and the road,” the resident said.
At around 8pm the same day, an airstrike on Mrauk-U, a town controlled by the Arakan Army, left a 66-year-old man dead, local sources reported.
The regime also carried out four airstrikes in Magway Region’s Salin Township early Monday, although there were no confirmed reports of casualties.
Meanwhile, junta forces also launched a drone attack on the village of Kyauk Kan in Nawnghkio Township in northern Shan State at around 10am on Monday, according to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, which controls the area.
These incidents, along with recent troop movements in Sagaing Region’s Yinmarbin Township, ongoing clashes in Chin State’s Falam Township, an offensive in Tanintharyi Region’s Yebyu Township, and artillery attacks in eastern Bago Region, all indicate that last week’s deadly earthquake has done little to shift the regime’s priorities.
