Junta airstrike kills mother, wounds child in Bago

A Myanmar military airstrike killed a displaced woman and wounded her husband and 11-year-old son in Nattalin Township, Bago Region, as fighting intensified this week, local sources said.Junta aircraft struck the village of Kyauk Pyoke near the base of Saw Phyu Hill shortly after 1am on February 12, then dropped another bomb on nearby Sin Waing village, about 23 miles northeast of Nattalin town. Shrapnel killed 31-year-old Aye Aye Toe and wounded her husband, Ko Ye, 35, and their 11-year-old son, Hlaing Htet Kyaw, the Nattalin Township PDF forces told Myanmar Now. The family had been sheltering near the base of Saw Phyu Hill, local sources said. The strike came as about 300 junta troops pushed east of the Yangon–Pyay Highway in two columns this month, sparking heavy fighting with resistance forces in Nattalin Township. Last week, a local People’s Defence Force (PDF) outpost was struck by a drone, and combined artillery fire and ground clashes left at least ten civilians injured and seven PDF fighters dead. On the morning of February 12, clashes broke out across eastern Nattalin Township near the Bago Yoma. The junta responded by launching airstrikes, according to Deputy Commander Nyi Nyi of the local People’s Defence Force (PDF). “They aren’t exerting as much pressure on other townships and are concentrating on Nattalin Town because we control about 20 of the 84 village tracts,” he said. “That’s why they are targeting the town with full force. Clashes occur daily, including this morning.” Although clashes occur daily in Nattalin Township, the junta has not provided any reports on casualties of the battle situation. The fighting has forced thousands of people to flee, raising the already large number of displaced people across the region. On Monday, junta forces burnt over 50 households to the ground across multiple villages in Nattalin Township. A local displaced woman said the fires had largely been abandoned, as most residents fled when junta forces advanced from Thayarwady and Nattalin Districts in December. As fighting spreads across eastern Nattalin, residents say airstrikes and troop movements have emptied villages and forced families deeper into hiding. For those displaced by the violence, survival now hinges on staying out of sight. “Life is extremely difficult for those stranded in the forests with nothing and no one to turn to,” the displaced woman said. “Almost all villages in eastern Nattalin are affected and people are fleeing.”

Junta airstrike kills mother, wounds child in Bago

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