Myanmar junta airstrike kills, injures children in village north of Mandalay

The junta air force attacked a village in Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region twice on Sunday, injuring six children and a teacher in a tutoring group and killing one child, according to locals. The first round of the attack, which included machine gun fire from the aircraft as well as bombs, occurred around 2pm in the village of Kyauk Hpyu some 10 miles south of Thabeikkyin on the Mandalay-Myitkyina road, injuring six children and a teacher studying in a learning circle. Junta aircraft returned around nine hours later to bomb the village again at around 11pm, killing a 10-year-old. “It was just a small tutoring group. They bombed that group, hitting six children and the female teacher—seven people altogether," a woman living in the village said. “They came back to attack again in the night and a child was killed instantly. The children were just primary school-aged children.” The Mandalay Region People's Defence Force (MDY-PDF), which is involved in the local administration, issued a statement about airstrikes on Sunday confirming the daytime assault had injured seven civilians including young children. Photographs released along with the MDY-PDF statement showed children around 10 years old with injuries. The small village of Kyauk Hpyu is just north of the larger village of Chaung Gyi, a frequent target of attacks by junta forces, and is far from any site of recent fighting between junta and resistance forces. Aftermath of the airstrike that hit the Kyauk Hpyu village learning circle (Photos: MDY-PDF) Locals believe the military targeted the village and learning circle despite knowing where resistance forces are positioned in the township. "Our office location has already been exposed,” a woman connected with the resistance administration said. “Other locations are the same, but the place they bombed unrelated to resistance groups.” With the junta having intensified its offensives in the broader township since recapturing Thabeikkyin last month, there had been recent or ongoing combat in areas just outside Thabeikkyin and at the 4-Mile, 6-Mile, and 7-Mile villages more than 10 miles away by road at the time of the Kyauk Hpyu strike. Junta forces used artillery and drones in attacks on other villages outside Thabeikkyin including Za Yat Kwin some seven miles to the northeast, forcing civilians to flee their homes. The military aims to advance on town of Mogok, Mandalay Region, a gemstone-mining hub east of Thabeikkyin currently controlled by an anti-junta group. Airstrike kills elderly woman Another junta airstrike hammered a village with dozens of bombs in Ngazun Township southwest of Mandalay on the Ayeyarwady River last Friday, indirectly killing an elderly resident, locals said. A senior junta officer was killed when ground forces moving through Ngazun Township last week triggered an improvised explosive set by resistance forces near Thar Kyin village, according to a resident. “They were unable to continue the advance from there and withdrew, then sent back Y12 aircraft to bomb the village. They dropped over 50 bombs,” the Thar Kyin villager said. “As for deaths, it wasn't from direct bomb hits, but an elderly woman died from shock from the bomb explosions.” He added that there were no other casualties, as the villagers had prior warning of the imminent attack and were able to flee in time, but that houses burned in the fires ignited by the bombs. Locals said that junta ground forces had also burned down other villages in the township in arson attacks last month. Myanmar’s military regime has announced that it will hold elections starting this December. After refraining from direct attacks in most of central Myanmar for months, the junta has recently escalated its offensive operations in Sagaing, Magway, and Mandalay regions in an evident attempt to pacify these areas before the elections.

Myanmar junta airstrike kills, injures children in village north of Mandalay

Since retaking Thabeikkyin’s urban centre from resistance forces, the military has pushed to extend its control over the whole township and advance eastward to Mogok

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