At least 19 killed as Myanmar junta continues airstrikes across Rakhine State

Myanmar’s military continued its relentless campaign of airstrikes across Rakhine State on Monday, killing at least 19 civilians and injuring several others, according to sources. Most of the victims were in Taungup Township, where 17 people, including a six-year-old boy, died after two fighter jets dropped six bombs on Tan Hlwe Ywar Ma, a small town about 18 miles north of the town of Taungup. Junta airstrikes targeting Tan Hlwe Ywar Ma on September 24 left at least two people dead and another four wounded. “We heard the roar of junta warplanes and explosions last night,” said a displaced man from the nearby village of Kin Taung, which was hit by airstrikes on Saturday. At least four people were killed and another 13 wounded in that attack. “Junta warplanes fly over our village almost every day, so we had no choice but to flee,” said the Kin Taung villager. Most rural areas in Taungup Township are under the control of the Arakan Army (AA), but the junta still has two army battalions and its Military Operations Command 5 stationed in the town of Taungup, the township’s administrative centre. According to residents, most of the town’s population has fled amid fears of imminent clashes, but around a third remain trapped there due to restrictions imposed by the regime. Civilian casualties were also reported on Monday in northern Rakhine’s Maungdaw Township, where two teenaged boys were killed by an airstrike on a school in the village of Kha Yay Myaing, about six miles south of the town of Maungdaw. Meanwhile, a junta air raid reportedly left one man injured in the village of Nat Taung Pyin in Pauktaw Township on Tuesday. The airstrikes have been intensifying recently as the AA steps up its attacks on military positions across Rakhine State as part of its ongoing offensive against the regime. On Monday, the AA captured a key hilltop base in Ann Township, near the headquarters of the junta’s Western Regional Military Command. Since launching its offensive in November of last year, the group has taken control of 10 of Rakhine State’s 17 townships, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chin State.

At least 19 killed as Myanmar junta continues airstrikes across Rakhine State

The regime is intensifying its aerial assaults as its remaining positions in the state come under growing pressure from the Arakan Army

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