Civilians killed as Myanmar air force uses 500-pound bombs in Hpasawng, Karenni State

Correction: An earlier version of this story included ambiguous statements about casualty figures. The story has been changed for clarity and accuracy. At least four people were killed and more than 20 injured in junta airstrikes on Hpasawng Township, Karenni State on Sunday, according to locals and resistance sources. Following clashes between junta troops and resistance fighters, the regime’s air force dropped a 500-pound bomb at a monastery in the town where 30 civilians were sheltering, according to a source connected with the Karenni Army (KA). “Four or five people were killed and nearly two dozen were injured in the bombing,” he said. Due to communications breakdowns in the state resulting from recent fighting, the exact casualty figures could not be verified. “As far as I know, one resident died on the spot and over 20 people sustained injuries. Some are in critical condition,” said Ko Benya of the Karenni Human Rights Group (KHRG). Ko Benya added that some of the injured civilians are in critical condition and that the death toll may rise. The source associated with the KA said Hpasawng residents were trapped in the town, which is located on the west bank of the Thanlwin (Salween) River, amid clashes that had been ongoing since the end of February. “Junta soldiers wouldn’t let them leave the town and were using them as human shields,” he said. Resistance forces were able to evacuate some areas of Hpasawng in spite of this, local sources said, moving around 200 residents out of harm’s way. Airstrikes on the town caused extensive damage to over 120 civilian houses, the same sources said. The military’s Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 134 and 135 are the army units stationed nearest to the town. After suffering heavy losses since the launch of Operation 1111—a coordinated anti-junta offensive initiated by Karenni resistance forces in November 2023—the army has increasingly deployed aircraft and heavy artillery in Karenni State to support its ground forces. Karenni resistance forces have already taken over the towns of Mese and Shadaw near the Thailand-Myanmar border, and claim to control 80 percent of the state’s administrative capital of Loikaw. Last month, junta aircraft dropped 500-pound bombs at two schools in Karenni State’s Demoso Township, killing one adult man and four children between 11 and 13 years old, and injuring at least 25 other schoolchildren and teachers. Junta artillery strikes on civilian areas in the neighbouring Pekhon Township, southern Shan State injured three people and killed two adult women, a 15-year-old girl, and a one-year-old girl on February 13. Since the 2021 military coup, more than 600 civilians have been killed by the junta forces’ airstrikes, shelling, or small arms fire in Karenni State according to the local monitoring organisation Progressive Karenni People Force (PKPF).

Civilians killed as Myanmar air force uses 500-pound bombs in Hpasawng, Karenni State

The military has increasingly deployed indiscriminate air and artillery attacks in the state, according to resistance sources, as well as using civilians as human shields

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