Despite ongoing ceasefire, Myanmar military kills three in Magway Region airstrike

The Myanmar junta’s air force bombed a village in Saw Township, Magway Region on Thursday, according to locals, killing three civilians a few days after extending a declared ceasefire. The claimed purpose of the ceasefire was to allow relief and reconstruction efforts to proceed uninterrupted after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar on March 28, causing more than 3,700 deaths. Two bombs fell on Nyaungkan village some 10 miles north of Saw around 2pm on Thursday, landing and exploding inside a housing compound on the outskirts of the village. “They dropped bombs just once. The bombs landed directly on that compound. Not directly on the house, but right next to it,” a villager said. “The aircraft circled once and then flew away in formation.” The site of the bombing doubled as an automotive repair shop. Two of the shop’s mechanics in their 40s and another local man in his 30s were killed, Nyaungkan residents said. Six others were injured at the scene, including the shop’s owner and his wife, according to a villager who personally went to the bombing site to assess the damage. Three other men sustained life-threatening injuries, he added, and were undergoing treatment. Locals also said the airstrike destroyed a house on the compound and caused fires that burned up automotive parts and equipment as well as one of the vehicles being repaired. Most residents of Nyaungkan, which consists of nearly 200 households, are farmers. Locals said there had been no nearby battles or operations by ground troops in the area for years. “It’s not a place with military activity. There are no battles, so we weren’t expecting this," said another resident. “And that's how it happened. We didn’t have time to take shelter.” Since the airstrike took them by surprise, frightened residents of the village had been sleeping in the nearby forest at night instead of taking the risk of staying in the village, he added. Damage from the junta airstrike on Nyaungkan village in Magway Region’s Saw Township on June 5 (Photo - Yaw Alinn Tan) This is the second time Nyaungkan has been hit by junta airstrikes. Four civilians were killed and five injured by a bombing raid on the village in late 2022. Despite the post-earthquake ceasefire, which was extended on June 1, junta airstrikes and ground operations have continued in some areas. Airstrikes have occurred almost daily in recent weeks in the Yaw area, a more northerly part of Magway Region. The junta’s attacks on civilian areas also included an airstrike in early May on a school in Depayin Township, Sagaing Region, which killed two teachers and 20 schoolchildren and injured more than 100 people. The military has conducted at least 520 airstrikes across the country, killing 462 people and injuring 884, according to a statement released by the anti-junta, publicly mandated National Unity Government on June 2.

Despite ongoing ceasefire, Myanmar military kills three in Magway Region airstrike

Between March 28 and May 30, the regime’s air force conducted over 520 airstrikes across the country, killing 462 civilians and injuring 884, according to the publicly mandated National Unity Government

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