Junta bombs civilian areas in Thabeikkyin, killing two and injuring 27

A junta airstrike on Chaunggyi Village in Mandalay Region’s Thabeikkyin Township killed a five-year-old child and a man in his 50s on January 2, according to local sources. The airstrike, which also injured 27 people, began around 8pm and struck several buildings in the village center. The attack damaged a fire station, a humanitarian relief office, and nearby shops, a local resident said. "The injured are still receiving medical treatment,” a 30-year-old man told Myanmar Now. “We still don't know the full conditions of those who were severely injured.” According to a report by Mandalay Free Press, the deceased five-year-old was a girl. Images circulating online show three women grieving beside her body. The 27 injured included several displaced individuals who had fled Madaya Township, with 16 suffering severe, life-threatening injuries. The airstrike also destroyed 23 civilian homes and five vehicles from the Metta San Yay humanitarian office. Chaunggyi, a village on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River, is controlled by the People's Administration Organisation (PAO) of Thabeikkyin Township, which operates under the National Unity Government (NUG). The village is home to thousands of residents and known for its gold-mining operations.It fell under siege soon after the 2021 coup, and has since experienced repeated junta attacks. On December 11, 2023, the military launched artillery strikes on the village, killing a construction worker and injuring at least three others. Resistance forces initiated an offensive in the area on June 26, 2024, which lasted nearly three weeks. During this period, the junta's air force bombed the village for seven consecutive days, killing at least seven locals and destroying 48 homes. Anti-junta groups fully captured the village on August 1, 2024, and have maintained control ever since. Regarding the latest aerial attack, a resistance group told Myanmar Now that the junta may have deliberately targeted civilian areas, a pattern residents in the village have experienced for years. "Chaunggyi is a territory controlled by our forces," an official from the Bo Lin Yone Force, a resistance group, said. “I think they bombed it because it was bustling with activity in an area held by the resistance.”

Junta bombs civilian areas in Thabeikkyin, killing two and injuring 27

One of the buildings struck by the airstrike was a humanitarian relief office

Subscribe for full access

How the global fuel crisis is upending Myanmar’s rice supply chain

No way out: Junta airstrike leaves prisoners burned alive in AA camp

Killing their own: How Myanmar’s military targets those left behind

The costly resistance operation that saved hundreds of civilian hostages

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

TNLA faces backlash after congratulating junta leader on self-declared presidency

Airstrikes in Rakhine kill one, injure at least 14, including monks

UN rights chief urges immediate release of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi

Win Myint, Myanmar’s ousted president, released by regime