Four children among civilians killed by Myanmar junta shelling, airstrikes north of Mandalay

Junta artillery shells killed two women and four children in Thone Se Pay village in Mandalay Region’s Madaya Township on Saturday, according to local sources. A man living near Thon Se Pay, located some five miles north of Mandalay on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River, said the victims had died under heavy artillery fire and airstrikes after fighting broke out between resistance forces, who currently control the township, and advancing junta troops. “The heavy artillery fire didn't stop all day; they were firing continuously. Because it's close to Mandalay and they were suffering heavy casualties, they were providing cover fire from all around,” he said. Junta troops positioned within a few miles also fired artillery from various locations surrounding the village, including the Minkun Township police station across the river in Sagaing Region, the Madaya football field, and the villages of Nyaung Kone, Pauk Wea, Htee Taw Moe and Shwe Kyin. As a result of the shelling, an elderly woman from Su Lay Kone Village near Thone Se Pay, a nursing mother and her infant, a five-year-old boy, and an eight-year-old girl were reportedly killed. Another five-year-old boy was among the injured receiving medical treatment, but died on Sunday, according to a representative of the "Voice Of Mandalay" (VOMDY) Facebook page, which reports news from the ground in Mandalay Region. The column of junta troops that advanced on Thone Se Pay reportedly consisted of around 100 soldiers as well as junta-trained Pyu Saw Htee militia members serving as auxiliaries. The column burned down seven houses in Thone Se Pay village, according to VOMDY. On September 18, three other locals had been killed when junta troops shelled Thone Se Pay using heavy artillery, targeting resistance forces that they assumed were stationed there. Clashes have broken out frequently in recent months in Madaya Township between the junta troops and a coalition of resistance forces including the Pyin Oo Lwin District People’s Defense Organization (PDO), the Patheingyi Township PDO, the Madaya Township PDO, the Generation Z Power group, and the Sky Force group. Intense fighting has also been reported between the military junta and Mandalay Region People’s Defence Forces (MDY-PDF) in Kyauk Ta Dar Village in eastern Madaya Township. Osmond, a spokesperson for MDY-PDF, confirmed to Myanmar Now that fighting is ongoing in the area, but said details about the battlefield situation and casualties were not yet available. Since June 25, the MDY-PDF have attacked and captured more than 30 junta base camps in Madaya Township as well as an outpost at the military-controlled Alpha Cement Factory in Patheingyi Township.

Four children among civilians killed by Myanmar junta shelling, airstrikes north of Mandalay

Two adult women and four children between infancy and eight years old were killed when junta forces fired on the village of Thone Se Pay, Madaya Township

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