Junta airstrikes kill at least 15 across resistance strongholds in Myanmar

At least 15 people were killed and more than 20 others injured over the past two days by junta aerial assaults in resistance strongholds across Mandalay, Sagaing regions and Karenni and northern Shan states, local sources said. In Mandalay Region’s Thabeikkyin Township, a woman and five children were killed when a junta warplane bombed the village of Poe Za Nwe. The village lies about 16 miles west of Mogok, a ruby mining hub currently under the control of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). “A 45-year-old woman and her three children, aged between one and 14, were among the victims,” a man from Poe Za Nwe village told Myanmar Now. “Two other children also died when bombs struck houses near a church.” During Operation 1027, resistance forces captured villages in the area, including Poe Za Nwe, and cut off key junta supply routes, according to resistance forces. Earlier this month, clashes intensified in Thabeikkyin Township after junta troops advanced further into the town, despite a heavy resistance presence. Subsequently, junta troops arrived near Four Mile village, just four miles east of Thabeikkyin. At least two people were killed and two others injured in an attack on Hsipaw town on Monday. A day earlier, eight people—including two children—were wounded in shelling in Mogok. In neighboring Madaya Township on Sunday, a junta warplane bombed Kyauk Sa Yit Kone village, killing a six-year-old boy and injuring 11 others, according to local sources. An elderly man was also killed in the same attack.The military has increasingly relied on airstrikes as a primary tactic to counter the growing strength of resistance forces across Myanmar. As it continues to lose control of territory on the ground, particularly in ethnic minority regions and newly formed resistance strongholds, the junta has turned to airpower to inflict damage, disrupt supply lines, and terrorise civilian populations.Airstrikes across Karenni StateOver the same period, at least six people were killed and four injured in Karenni State when junta aircraft launched aerial assaults on Hpasawng and Demoso townships on Monday, according to the Karenni Interim Executive Council (IEC). At least five women and a man were killed in Mawchee, a mining hub of tin and tungsten in Hpasawng on Monday, local sources said. “Bombs landed on a residential area, locally known as Sat Sayar Kwin in Mawchee,” Banya Khung Aung, IEC second secretary told Myanmar Now. “Five people died on the spot. Another man died on the way to the hospital.” A man and a woman sustained injuries in the attack which occurred at around 2pm on Monday. Fighting in Hpasawng has continued as resistance forces captured several junta-held positions near the Infantry Battalion (IB) 135 base near the main town.At around 1am on Monday, a junta fighter jet struck a clinic in western Demoso Township, injuring at least two men. Later that day, the jet dropped five bombs on War Ban Pa Loet village, located less than eight miles west of Demoso town, according to local sources. Bombings across Sagaing Similar targeted attacks were launched across Sagaing Region over the last two days. A junta airstrike in Kawlin Township, Sagaing Region, injured four people on Monday when bombs struck near an eatery in the village of Doe Pin, located on a highway connecting Shwebo and Myitkyina in Kachin State.According to resistance forces, the injured included a 12-year-old boy. The airstrikes occurred around 4:30 pm. That same day, the nearby village of Inyar Shey in neighboring Kyunhla Township was also hit by junta airstrikes, though no civilian casualties were reported. While the military regime retook control of Kawlin town in early 2024, most rural parts of the township remained under the control of resistance forces. Analysts and rights groups say the frequency and intensity of these aerial assaults have sharply escalated since late 2023, with bombs often dropped indiscriminately on villages, schools, monasteries, clinics, and displacement camps.

Junta airstrikes kill at least 15 across resistance strongholds in Myanmar

A series of military airstrikes hit towns and villages in Mandalay, Sagaing, Karenni, and Shan states

Subscribe for full access

Across a border and into a war: A Karenni leader’s final journey

When going home is impossible: Myanmar nationals find solace in Singapore’s Peninsula Plaza

The Russian general behind Moscow’s decades-long military courtship of Myanmar

Explainer: Who are the companies and cronies backing Myanmar junta leader’s Thailand visit?

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

Poland blocks sale of 250 tonnes of contaminated Myanmar rice

Myanmar resistance drones strike junta airbase near Mandalay airport

Myanmar military, MNDAA move to strengthen positions amid rising tensions

Five killed in Myanmar junta airstrikes in retaliation for attack by PDF forces