Homes of former NMSP members damaged by Myanmar junta airstrike in Mon State

A junta airstrike damaged at least five homes belonging to former members of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) in Mon State’s Ye Township last week, despite the group’s continued relations with Myanmar’s military regime, according to sources. The airstrike took place on June 18 in the upper Ye River area, where more than 70 homes were built by the Nippon Foundation in 2018 as part of efforts to support Myanmar’s peace process. Local residents said the damaged homes belonged to former NMSP members and their families. Displaced villagers were also staying in the area, but no casualties were reported. The strike occurred near a camp used by the Ye Balu resistance group, which was targeted in a separate junta airstrike on May 27 that killed at least 10 resistance fighters. “It’s in the same area as the Ye Balu camp that was previously bombed,” an ethnic Mon resident said. “Since then, the villagers stopped sleeping in their homes. Because they were avoiding the area, no one was hit.” Following the May attack, many residents reportedly began spending nights in locations they considered safer, fearing additional airstrikes. The NMSP, an ethnic Mon armed organisation founded in 1958, signed Myanmar’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in 2015. Unlike several other ethnic armed groups that participated in the country’s pre-coup peace process, the NMSP has not engaged in armed conflict with the military since it seized power in 2021 and has maintained regular communication with junta authorities. However, a faction broke away from the group in February 2024 to form the New Mon State Party–Anti-Military Dictatorship (NMSP-AD), which is aligned with the opposition National Unity Government. A Mon journalist based along the Thai-Myanmar border said the original NMSP continues to hold talks with the military but allows resistance groups, including forces affiliated with the Karen National Union, to move through areas under its influence in the upper Ye River region. The journalist suggested the latest airstrike may have been intended as a warning to anti-junta forces operating in the area. “Two weeks ago, the NMSP-AD reportedly raided an outpost near Kawtbein, a village in Kawkareik Township,” the journalist said. “They didn’t publicise the operation, so the military may just believe they were involved. It seems like this is the junta’s way of warning them.” The regime has not publicly commented on the June 18 airstrike. The NMSP had not issued an official statement on the attack as of publication.

Homes of former NMSP members damaged by Myanmar junta airstrike in Mon State

The attack comes despite the ethnic Mon armed group’s longstanding ceasefire and continued communications with the regime

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