Junta airstrikes kill eight, including children in three-day bombing campaign

The Myanmar military launched three straight days of airstrikes across northern Shan State, Mon State and Mandalay Region from August 23 to 25, killing eight people, including Buddhist monks and children, local sources said. Junta warplanes bombed Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) positions in Kyaukme Township, northern Shan State, on August 23, followed by strikes in Mon State’s Kyaikto Township on August 24 and Mandalay Region’s Nyaung-U Township the same day. A junta airstrike hit the village of Kyauk Pyin Kan in Nyaung-U Township, Mandalay Region, on August 23, about 10 miles from Bagan. The strike killed a 10-year-old child. It also killed a 23-year-old resistance fighter, Hein Htet Zaw, and wounded a local man in his 30s, resistance forces told Myanmar Now. The junta deployed at least two helicopters to strike the area, according to a Black Eagle PDF-Bagan information officer. "This happened without any ground fighting, they just came and bombed, there was no ground offensive taking place,” he said. “When the aircraft came and we took cover, the bombs hit precisely, killing both people instantly at the site.” After the strike, residents of Kyauk Pyin Kan—home to nearly 500 farming and cane-ball weaving households—fled the village, the information officer said. On August 24, junta aircraft bombed a monastery in Chanmyae Zu village, about seven miles northeast of Kyaikto in Mon State, at 10:20am, according to Aye Min Htun, a Thaton District PDF officer."They dropped a 500-pound bomb,” he said. “It was dropped by a jet fighter.” The strike hit the monastery’s dining hall as monks were preparing to eat, killing two people, aged 72 and 56. The attacks also fatally wounded another civilian en route to the hospital, while four others were injured, according to the Thaton District PDF and Karen Peace Support Network. Photos obtained by Myanmar Now also show a deceased monk, and images of severed legs and arms from the blasts. Similar to the first attack, there was no ground fighting between resistance forces and the junta in Kyaikto Township when the monastery was attacked, Aye Min Htun said. Homes lie in ruins after a junta airstrike on Kyauk Pyin Kan village, Nyaung-U Township. (Photo: Supplied) "They are deliberately targeting religious buildings and schools,” he said. “We don't know what kind of information they received to carry out this bombing.” As fierce ground clashes continue between junta forces advancing on Nawng Ping village in Kyaukme Township and the TNLA, the military has also stepped up near-daily airstrikes on civilian areas with no fighting, leaving a trail of casualties.On August 23, a junta airstrike hit Kun Salan village in Kyaukme Township, killing a child and injuring seven, a TNLA representative told Myanmar Now. The next day, a junta aircraft bombed Kyaung Kone Monastery in Long Kyein village, killing two displaced people, locals said. On August 25, two bombs struck Waso Monastery in Kyaukme town, wounding three monks. "The aircraft circled the town and then bombed toward the Waso monastery,” a Kyaukme town resident told Myanmar Now. ”We learned that monks were injured.” Kyaukme, a key trade hub on the China-Myanmar border route with nine wards and more than 50,000 residents, was captured by TNLA forces during Operation 1027 on August 5 2024. Since then, relentless junta airstrikes have forced over half the population to flee. Between August 1 and 14, the junta carried out at least 51 airstrikes on civilian areas across 10 states and regions—including Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway and Rakhine—killing 86 people and wounding 167, according to the National Unity Government. A damaged monastery building in Chanmyae Zu village, Kyaikto Township, Mon State, following a junta airstrike. (Photo: KPSN)

Junta airstrikes kill eight, including children in three-day bombing campaign

The strikes hit civilian areas with no fighting on the ground, destroying homes and monasteries from August 23 - 25

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