Myanmar airstrikes, shelling kill at least 10 on Independence Day

At least 10 people were killed and several others injured in military airstrikes and artillery attacks across Sagaing and Mandalay regions, Chin State, and northern Shan State on Sunday, as Myanmar marked Independence Day. A family of four, a couple and two of their children were killed on Sunday when a junta warplane bombed three villages about 15 miles northeast of Hakha, the largest town in Chin State held by junta forces. “The woman and her two children, both under the age of 10, died on the spot, and her husband who was in critical condition died later this afternoon,” a source from Hakha Township told Myanmar Now. “There were no clashes near the villages hit by the aerial assaults. But they continue to bomb even though there is no fighting in the area.” Civilian casualties were reported in Hata village, while the full extent of damage in two other villages remained unclear. The attacks followed a Chin resistance assault on a military base in Hakha two days before the regime’s planned December 28 election, after which the military carried out heavy airstrikes in the area. Also on Sunday, three people, including a doctor, were killed when a junta gyrocopter bombed a hospital in Ma Taunt Ta village in Sagaing Region’s Salingyi Township. “Gyrocopters have been flying continuously from the northwestern military headquarters since around 9:30am today,” a source in Salingyi said. “Most of the gyrocopters are flying toward the southwest, near the border of Magway. So, we didn’t expect they would target us.” During the first week of January, the military regime carried out aerial attacks across Sagaing Region, targeting Depayin, Indaw, Kantbalu, Monywa, Salingyi, and Katha townships. At least 12 civilians were killed, and more than 24 others were injured during these attacks, local sources said.Rights groups say the Myanmar military has a documented pattern of escalating airstrikes and shelling on public holidays and symbolic dates, when civilians are more likely to be at home or traveling, turning days of national or religious significance into periods of heightened risk for noncombatants. A junta warplane also carried out attacks in Mabein, a town under the control of Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in northern Shan State, after a junta warplane bombed a guesthouse in the town’s urban area. Details of the incident are still unclear due to the collapse of communication, according to a representative of the KIA. “One out of four injured people died in the attack when a guesthouse was hit by a junta aerial assault,” Colonel Naw Bu, the spokesperson of Kachin Independence Army told Myanmar Now. A nearby restaurant and a house were also damaged in the attack which occurred at around midnight on Saturday. The town, seized by the KIA-led resistance forces in January 2024, is located at around 50 miles north of Katha, in upper Sagaing Region where Kachin resistance forces are attempting to seize the town. In Mandalay Region, at least two people, including a monk, were killed on Sunday when a monastery and nearby areas were hit by junta shelling from a military base in eastern Mogok, the gemstone mining hub of Mandalay Region. The Independence Day attacks underscore the widening toll of the military’s air campaign, which has increasingly targeted villages, hospitals, and religious sites. Far from active fighting, these attacks often leave civilians bearing the brunt of the war as the junta presses ahead with its war despite mounting casualties, displacement, and international condemnation.

Myanmar airstrikes, shelling kill at least 10 on Independence Day

Attacks across Sagaing, Mandalay, Chin State and northern Shan hit villages, a hospital and a monastery, killing civilians including women, children and a monk

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