Myanmar junta airstrike kills 10, including bride, at wedding in Bago Region

A junta airstrike targeting a wedding ceremony in eastern Bago Region’s Kyaukkyi Township on Sunday killed at least 10 people, including the bride and two children, according to local sources. The incident occurred in Kyun Gyi, a village located on the eastern bank of the Sittaung River, at around 9am, the sources said. At least 20 others were injured, some critically, they added. “There could be more casualties, but all of the known victims are civilians,” said a local man with knowledge of the situation, adding that there was no fighting in the area at the time of the assault. Photos seen by Myanmar Now showed that at least two children were among the dead, including one who was decapitated. The wedding stage was destroyed, and bloodstains were visible near the area where gifts had been placed. “This time, they didn’t use the usual 500-pound bombs,” said another local man. “The bombs detonated in mid-air, scattering shrapnel, unlike earlier ones that hovered before striking. These fell straight to the ground and exploded.” Kyun Gyi falls within territory controlled by Brigade 3 of the Karen National Union (KNU). The group and its People’s Defence Force (PDF) allies have been carrying out offensives in the area since the first week of May. A key target of the resistance forces’ attacks has been the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 598 base in neighbouring Shwegyin Township, south of Kyaukkyi. The regime relied heavily on airstrikes to repel the attacks, according to the commander of a resistance unit involved in the fighting. “During the recent battle to capture LIB 598, the airstrikes were record-breaking,” said the unit commander. “There were around 20 attacks by jet fighters and over 10 by Y-12 aircraft. The total number of bombs dropped exceeded a hundred.” The airstrikes continued even after the regime regained control of the area, he added. On May 21, a man and a woman were killed and another man was injured after junta troops stationed at an outpost in Shwegyin Township opened fire on a bridge near a rubber plantation, according to a KNU Brigade 3 statement. Two days later, a howitzer shell fired by the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 307 exploded in the village of Ma Taw Kone, killing two displaced women sheltering there, the statement added. Meanwhile, there were also reports that KNU Brigade 6 and PDF fighters overran a junta security outpost near Baledo, a village located south of the Karen State border town of Myawaddy at approximately 5pm on May 23. Approximately 30 junta soldiers from the outpost surrendered, while more than 15 others, including their commanding officer, abandoned their post and fled, according to a report by the Karen Information Center, a local news outlet.

Myanmar junta airstrike kills 10, including bride, at wedding in Bago Region

At least two children were also killed in the attack, which took place in territory controlled by the KNU’s Brigade 3

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