Junta airstrikes continue to plague Myanmar’s western Chin State

Junta warplanes have conducted more than a dozen airstrikes in Chin State’s Mindat Township in recent weeks, according to local sources. The latest aerial assaults occurred over the past two days, a representative of the Mindat Township’s People Administrative Team told Myanmar Now. “The regime carried out three airstrikes on Wednesday and Thursday. They also conducted at least 15 in the past few weeks,” the representative said. Fortunately, no civilian casualties have been reported. The villages targeted by junta warplanes are under the control of the Chinland Defence Force— Mindat and allied groups, local sources said. “They are randomly conducting aerial assaults over both civilian and military targets, even when there is no ground combat,” a spokesperson for Mindat’s administrative team said. Tens of thousands of civilians in the township have been displaced by the attacks, according to relief workers. “Nearly every village near Mindat is empty now due to the frequent junta airstrikes,” a volunteer assisting the displaced villagers told Myanmar Now. A total of 16,000 civilians have been forced to leave both urban and rural areas of Mindat Township since the military seized power in 2021. Of these, 6,000 were forced to flee from urban areas after resistance forces announced the launch of a major offensive in May to capture the township’s junta-controlled administrative centre. Junta forces continue to hold at least six positions in the town of Mindat, which has been reduced to only around five percent of its pre-conflict population. Since mid-July, schools have been closed in resistance-held rural areas in Mindat Township due to the fear of potential airstrikes, according to a local volunteer. “Sadly, many children remain displaced in remote areas, unable to return to school, as they seek refuge far from junta airstrikes,” the volunteer said. Local volunteers also stressed the need for food supplies and shelters for displaced people in the township. On April 25, junta aerial bombings destroyed the Wammathu Hospital in Mindat, one of the township’s main healthcare facilities. At least four deaths and 15 injuries were reported in that incident.

Junta airstrikes continue to plague Myanmar’s western Chin State

Local sources say the regime has carried out more than a dozen airstrikes on resistance-held areas of Mindat Township is recent weeks

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