Military airstrike in Bago Region kills several civilians, including three children

The junta’s air force attacked three villages in Bago Region’s Yedashe Township—some 50 miles outside of the military-controlled capital of Naypyitaw—on Wednesday afternoon, killing seven people. In addition to four adults, among the victims were three children, including one who was just three years old. Another, age 10, was pictured in photos seen by Myanmar Now with face and neck injuries. The attack on Padauk Kone, Shan Hsu, and Si Pine, all on the eastern shore of the Sittaung River, involved bombs and machine gun fire from military aircraft, a member of the local anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF) chapter said. “A bomb fell right on top of a house in Si Pine, killing a mother and her preteen child,” a local source said, adding that seven people were shot and injured in the airstrike. Livestock, including cows, were seen slain on the roadside, and several houses destroyed. Clashes between the military and resistance forces have not broken out for nearly one month in Yedashe Township, but there were reportedly incidents where the junta fired heavy artillery into the area. “The airstrike wasn’t a response to a battle—they were deliberately targeting civilians,” the PDF member said. Locals speculated that the air force mistook them for resistance fighters that were spotted in neighbouring Khin Tan village earlier that day. Anti-junta groups claim that the aerial attacks may have been carried out to clear passage for further ground assaults on the eastern banks of the Sittaung. The military council has not released any information regarding Wednesday’s attack. Yedashe Township is also located within the Brigade 2 territory of the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army, an ethnic armed and governance organisation that has opposed the 2021 military coup in Myanmar and collaborated with local PDFs and resistance groups. Anti-junta forces aim to seize control of the Sittaung valley due to its strategic importance between the Bago Yoma range and the mountains of eastern Myanmar. The military has responded with great force, due to the region’s proximity to the regime stronghold of Naypyitaw.

Military airstrike in Bago Region kills several civilians, including three children

The area targeted in the aerial assault is just 50 miles from Naypyitaw

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