Two junta administrative officials were killed by a drone attack on Thursday when they went to inspect the damage from a mine blast on a bridge over the Ataran River in Mon State.
The drone strike, which injured 27 in addition to killing the two junta officials, occurred only a few hours after explosives detonated on the Kyone Ate Bridge, also known as the Shwe Yaung Pya Bridge, between Mon State’s Thaton and Bilin townships.
The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), an ethnic armed organisation, claimed responsibility for the attacks. According to Major Saw Kyaw Myint, a KNLA officer, they received intelligence that the junta officials were coming to inspect the Kyone Ate Bridge at around 7am on Thursday.
“The Thaton District administrator and a township-level administrator came with the junta personnel. They had a security force with them. Our allies received the intel that they were coming to the bridge, so we decided to bomb them using drones,” Saw Kyaw Myint said.
Saw Kyaw Myint also serves as chair of the Thaton District Alliance Affairs Supervision Committee for the Karen National Union (KNU), the political organisation for which the KNLA serves as an armed wing.
The deceased junta administrators were a road manager and a clerk from the general administration office.
The drone attack injured nine police officers, including the district police chief, 12 soldiers including a commissioned officer, a staff member of the Bilin Township Administration Department, three firefighters, and two employees of the Shwe Than Lwin Company.
Detailed information about the condition of the injured people was unavailable at the time of reporting. Photos of the scene after the attack, which circulated on pro-junta social media channels, show people lying on the ground, one of whom appears to be a junta soldier with a severely maimed leg.
The Kyone Ate Bridge is on the Yangon-Mawlamyine highway, near Shwe Yaung Pya village, on an important route for military traffic and supply lines. The bridge is crucial for the military’s access to the Mon State capital of Mawlamyine, as well as the towns of Hpa-An and Myawaddy in Karen State.
Two vehicles fell from the bridge when the mines detonated early Thursday morning, and one of the vehicles’ occupants, a staff member at the Thaton District Legal Office named Soe Moe, was killed.
According to Saw Kyaw Myint, the People’s Defence Forces as well as Battalion 2 of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)—under the command of KNU Brigade 1—were responsible for the mine explosion.
“It’s on the main road connecting Yangon to both Mawlamyine and Myawaddy, and is the only route the military can use to send supplies and reinforcements. That is why we decided to destroy that bridge,” Saw Kyaw Myint said.
A local resident said the damage to the bridge had caused major traffic delays.
“One side of the bridge collapsed but the other side is still there, so cars are still moving across slowly on the passable side. We heard the blast go off at around 5am. We only learned later that it was destroyed deliberately” he said.
The military council has yet to release a specific statement about the bridge or the attacks, but pro-junta propaganda channels on social media acknowledged at least nine recent explosive attacks on bridges and roads in the territory claimed by KNU Brigade 1.
On June 6, allied anti-junta resistance forces damaged five bridges in Kyaukkyi Township, Bago Region, including a bridge at Nat Than Kwin village on the Sittaung River, to disrupt junta transport and supply routes.
The military has also sabotaged transport routes to obstruct their enemies’ movements. After attacks on their convoys south of Kawkareik, Karen State, junta forces used bulldozers to tear up nearby roads in mid-May, and similarly damaged roads near Monywa, Sagaing Region, amid clashes in the area.
