Heavy civilian casualties reported in Myanmar junta attack on market in northern Shan State

Myanmar’s military inflicted heavy civilian casualties with an airstrike on a major market in northern Shan State on Thursday, according to the ethnic Kokang armed group that controls the town where the incident occurred. A representative of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) told Myanmar Now on Friday that at least five people were killed and another seven injured in the attack on the Myoma market in Hsenwi, a town about 35 miles northeast of Lashio, the region’s largest city. The town has been under MNDAA control since early January after it was captured as part of the Operation 1027 anti-regime offensive launched late last year. According to residents, the number of casualties is expected to rise as more bodies—many of them blown to pieces—are recovered from the wreckage. “I went out to have a look at around 6:30 this morning and saw that the MNDAA had blocked the road near the market, as they were still retrieving body parts. I couldn’t get too close, but I saw them putting part of a limb inside a basket,” said one local man. “A friend who had an electronics store in the market was injured in the airstrike but died at the hospital this morning,” he added, speaking to Myanmar Now on Friday. Residents said that survivors of the attack were taken to a hospital in Kutkai, a town about 16 miles to the north that is also controlled by the MNDAA. Another resident of Hsenwi also suggested that the death toll could be higher than reported. “I heard that at least seven people were killed,” said one man, noting that the aerial assault took place at 4:30pm, just as shop owners in the market were about to close for the day. The Ta’ang Women’s Organisation (TWO), which monitors junta atrocities in northern Shan State, said the attack appears to be the worst committed by the regime in the township since the collapse of a Chinese-brokered ceasefire late last month. “As far as we know, it was the deadliest airstrike so far, killing and injuring around 20 people,” a representative of the group said. According to the TWO, the junta has carried out at least three aerial assaults on Hsenwi since the start of the month, including one on a police station on July 3 and another on a school on July 12. Several buildings were damaged or destroyed in those attacks, but it was unclear if any civilians were killed or injured. Witnesses say that two bombs were dropped on the market in Thursday’s attack—one on a row of street-facing shops, and another on the market’s main building. The incident has heightened fears of a further escalation of attacks on the town, as the MNDAA and its allies close in on Lashio as part of their latest push for control of the region. “Nobody know when they will bomb us again. Right now, the shops are closed during the day, and at night all we can do is try to find somewhere safe to stay,” said one resident.

Heavy civilian casualties reported in Myanmar junta attack on market in northern Shan State

The attack on the market in the MNDAA-controlled town of Hsenwi on Thursday was the deadliest in the area since the resumption of fighting in the area late last month

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