Junta airstrikes hit villages in Tanintharyi Region, killing three

Junta warplanes bombed villages near Launglon town in Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region on Wednesday, killing three people and injuring four others, according to local residents and resistance forces.Beginning around 11 am on Wednesday, junta aircraft struck more than 10 villages across Dawei, Thayetchaung, and Launglon townships—including Pakarri, Yaewaing, Kinshey, Oketu, Sawhpyar, Meneioe, Way Di, Thapyayshaung, Kyetyettwin, and Kyauktwin—according to the Dawei Democracy Movement Strike Committee (DDMSC). Sources say the villages were bombed with mortar rounds, dropped from Y12 transport aircraft, according to locals. A junta airstrike hit Way Di village, about four miles east of Launglon town, killing 60-year-old Tin Shein and her son-in-law, 34-year-old Wai Yan Phyo, on impact.The blast also injured several family members, including 60-year-old Yu San, his 30-year-old daughter, two grandchildren under 10, and another child. "When the aircraft came and dropped bombs, they hit a house in Launglon’s Way Di village,” Saw Dah Ko, an operations commander of the local People's Defense Force (PDF) told Myanmar Now. “Of the six family members in that house, two died immediately and three were injured.” The critically injured 30-year-old woman also died before reaching the hospital. "The Y12 kept dropping bombs on our villages,” Min Lwin Oo, a committee member of the DDMSC told Myanmar Now. “There were explosions in other villages too, but I didn't hear of any casualties there.”Tanintharyi Region, in southern Myanmar, has seen rising clashes as resistance groups step up ambushes on junta forces moving between Dawei and surrounding townships. The region has become an increasingly active battleground where the Myanmar military is using airstrikes and heavy artillery to reassert control over strategic towns and transport routes.Min Lwin Oo explained that the villages had not previously experienced airstrikes, and that airstrikes across Tanintharyi Region typically only occur in zones where active clashes are ongoing in a specific area. Although some clashes broke out on Tuesday in Launglon Township, most of the aerial attacks were not near active battle zones. On Wednesday, junta artillery fire killed a 60-year-old woman when she was struck with shrapnel. "I think junta leaders may be coming to the Launglon area soon, so they're conducting territorial clearance operations and reasserting control,” Min Lwin Oo said. “This may be why these clashes are happening.” On Thursday morning, top junta leaders attended the opening of a new city hall in Dawei, where security had been tightened across the city, according to local sources. Junta-controlled newspapers also reported that Tanintharyi Region’s junta-appointed chief minister, Myat Ko, marked the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer at Dawei City Hall on September 16. Meanwhile, Karen National Liberation Army Brigade 4 ambushed a junta convoy of over 100 troops near Pakarri village, killing 10 soldiers, wounding about 15, and seizing weapons, the KNU said Wednesday.The attacks mark an escalation in Tanintharyi, with resistance groups warning the junta is expanding violence into previously untouched villages to tighten control ahead of high-level visits.

Junta airstrikes hit villages in Tanintharyi Region, killing three

Locals say the attacks targeted areas far from active battle zones as the junta tightens control around Dawei

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