Five children killed in Myanmar junta airstrike on Mon State village

Five children were killed and about eight others injured when Myanmar’s military launched an airstrike in Mon State’s Bilin Township late last week, according to a resistance source familiar with the situation. The attack targeted Pyin Ma Pin Seik, a village located 22 miles northeast of the town of Bilin, at around 8:13pm on October 9, the source said. The deceased were identified as Than Than, 12, Khin San Myint, 10, Mingalar Saw, 9, Lin Htet Tha, 7, and Htun Htun Min, 6. The village is located in territory controlled by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 1 and sits on the border between Mon State and Hpapun Township in Karen (Kayin) State. Several of the injured are in life-threatening condition, the source continued. Although there has been no recent ground fighting in Bilin Township, the junta has been conducting offensives since the first week of October in Hpapun Township, to the east of Bilin, in coordination with the Karen State Border Guard Force and a splinter group of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army. A junta column has been advancing from Kamarmaung, a town located in the southern part of the township, toward Kataingti, a village some 20 miles to the north, while coming under attack from KNLA Brigade 5 and allied resistance forces. Myanmar’s military junta has announced that it will hold elections at the end of this year, and in preparation has intensified its offensives against resistance forces in an effort to expand the amount of territory under its control. Last week, on October 6, regime airstrikes killed at least 20 people at a religious festival in Sagaing Region’s Chaung-U Township. Namtu and Hsipaw, two towns in northern Shan State controlled by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, were also targeted the same day. Most of the victims killed and injured in Chaung-U were civilians, including children.

Five children killed in Myanmar junta airstrike on Mon State village

The attack on the village near the border with Karen State comes amid a regime offensive in neighbouring Hpapun Township

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