Warplanes kill eight in Sagaing as junta launches wave of new airstrikes

At least eight civilians were killed and 20 wounded as Myanmar’s junta launched a wave of airstrikes on resistance-held areas across three townships in Sagaing Region over the past two days, local sources said. The latest strike occurred Tuesday morning, when a junta paramotor bombed a hospital in Kani Township, killing at least eight people, according to the civilian National Unity Government (NUG). “Seven people receiving treatment and a healthcare worker were killed when the regional hospital was hit in a junta aerial attack in Kani Township,” Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the NUG told Myanmar Now on Tuesday. According to locals, the hospital’s location had long been exposed, although a new hospital was reportedly set up in another site. Local resistance groups did not provide further details about the attack, due to the security concerns at the time of reporting.After agreeing to a China-brokered ceasefire with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in northern Shan State, the junta has shifted its focus westward—intensifying airstrikes on resistance strongholds in Rakhine State and across Sagaing Region, where opposition forces remain deeply entrenched. “The military is expected to press its advances in Sagaing Region in an attempt to continue its offensive operations across key townships scheduled for upcoming elections,” a man from Kani Township said. “It is also deploying larger numbers of troops, splitting them into smaller groups to attack from several directions at the same time. Airstrikes have also increased compared with earlier in the year. Before, the aerial assaults happened one at a time, but now several strikes are carried out together.” At least 13 people sustained injuries in Depayin Township when three jet fighters carried out several rounds of airstrikes over Sat Pyar Kyin and Kyun Taw villages, roughly six miles southwest of Tabayin, the largest town in the area controlled by the military. “Three fighter jets carried out simultaneous attacks on the villages one after another,” said a representative from Tapayin Township’s People Defense Team. “At least ten civilians in Sat Pyar Kyin and three others in Kyun Taw who were injured are currently receiving treatment, while two remain in critical condition.” Sources say there was no reported fighting near the village at the time of the attack. Yet pro-junta Telegram channels, however, claimed that resistance groups were holding a military training graduation ceremony. A few hours later, both villages came under a second wave of air attacks when a jet fighter carried out bombings at around 6:00pm. “No armed groups are based in these villages,” a local resistance fighter in Tabayin Township told Myanmar Now. “Those injured were all civilians, mostly elderly residents in their 60s and 70s, with the youngest victims in their early 30s.” A few hours later, junta warplanes dropped two bombs on Pai Tauk Kone village in Pale Township, about four miles from Kant Daunt—captured by the People’s Liberation Army in June. No civilian casualties were reported, local officials said. “Two bombs landed on the outskirts of Pi Tauk Kone, one in the northwest and the other in the south of the village,” said a representative of Pale Township’s administrative team. Sources say the recent attacks and renewed junta offensives have forced more than 5,000 people to flee their homes, adding to the growing humanitarian crisis across Sagaing Region.

Warplanes kill eight in Sagaing as junta launches wave of new airstrikes

Locals say the military is stepping up air and ground assaults across Sagaing ahead of planned elections, targeting villages with no active resistance presence

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