Five killed in Myanmar junta airstrikes in retaliation for attack by PDF forces

Myanmar’s military has conducted heavy airstrikes and forced over 5,000 locals to flee from villages along the western bank of the Ayeyarwady River in Pakokku Township, Magway Region, following an attack on a junta base in Myit Chay town, according to residents and resistance sources. In the early hours of September 4, National Unity Government (NUG) People’s Defense Force (PDF) troops launched an attack on the regime-occupied No. 1 Livestock and Training Unit (known locally as the BPI Unit)—a pharmaceutical and antivenom production factory located near Nyaung Hla village, just over a mile west of Myit Chay. About 500 junta troops were stationed inside the BPI Unit, and after several hours of fighting, NUG troops were forced to withdraw. Following the attack, the junta launched heavy airstrikes on about seven villages near their base. The airstrikes killed five people, including three women, from the nearby villages of Pauk Taw and Ainggyi, and several others were injured, according to a local resistance group and Myit Chay residents. “A bomb dropped directly on the house in Pauk Taw, killing two people instantly. In Ainggyi, the bomb hit the monastery, destroying Buddha images—the losses were quite extensive,” a local resistance member said. Some resistance fighters were also reportedly killed or wounded during the attack, although the NUG has not released any casualty figures. Locals said the regime has used drones, fighter jets, and gyrocopters to carry out airstrikes in recent days, while junta troops stationed inside the BPI Unit have continued shelling the surrounding area. Due to the initial airstrikes and ongoing gyrocopter attacks, about 5,000 people have had to flee seven villages near the unit and are in a state of emergency, a Myit Chay resident said. Two women injured in the regime’s September 4 airstrike (Photo: Supplied) She added that on Monday, additional junta airstrikes destroyed 18 homes in Kyaungtankhon, a village located just west of Myit Chay. Anyar Taw Eain, a local aid organisation, told Myanmar Now that in addition to temporary shelters, displaced locals urgently require rice, cooking oil, and other basic food supplies. Since fighting broke out in Myit Chay at the start of this year, the junta has blocked transport routes connecting the town to Pakokku. As a result, fuel and other basic necessities have skyrocketed to nearly five times their usual price, leading to severe shortages and hardships. Additionally, the need to detour around active fighting zones has made it difficult for relief teams to reach displaced communities. “Cargo routes leading to our side have been blocked since the initial fighting broke out—it’s been about nine months,” an Anyar Taw Eain official said. “Displaced people are facing all kinds of extreme hardships.” In June this year, NUG battalions seized and torched the Myit Chay police station, leaving the BPI Unit as the standalone junta presence in the town. As a result of the ongoing fighting between resistance forces and junta troops in Myit Chay, locals said that over 40 residents were killed by junta forces between May and June, and that over 1,000 homes, as well as the town’s market, were decimated.

Five killed in Myanmar junta airstrikes in retaliation for attack by PDF forces

Following a resistance attack on a pharmaceutical factory-turned junta base, regime airstrikes have killed five and displaced thousands in Magway’s Pakokku Township

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