Myanmar junta airstrikes in Karenni and northern Shan states kill at least 12

At least dozen civilians were killed this week, and more were injured, in two separate junta airstrikes in Karenni and northern Shan states, local sources said. The first junta bombing raid occurred in downtown Kyaukme, northern Shan State around 5pm on Tuesday, resulting in at least five civilian deaths, according to Kyaukme residents. Fighter planes dropped bombs in the town’s densely populated wards 3 and 7, initially killing four people and injuring 14, according to a local man. “The woman and her youngest son, from the Sanpya restaurant, were killed on the spot,” he said. “The rest were people in nearby houses. Two men and two women died altogether and 14 people were injured,” he said. Bombs falling near the Sanpya restaurant in Ward 7, a mosque in Ward 3, and the Hlaing clinic caused the most damage, according to locals, who added that they discovered another body on Wednesday, the day after the raid. “Four people died last night. This morning when we searched again, we discovered one more body. We don't know yet if it’s male or female. We’re still clearing the debris,” said a Ward 3 resident. Kyaukme’s main market and many of its shops closed on Wednesday in response to the airstrike, locals said, and many residents of the town fled their homes. An announcement by the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)—the ethnic armed group in control of Kyaukme—confirmed that two men and two women had been killed in the junta airstrikes on wards 3 and 7, as well as injuring two children and 12 other civilians. The Tuesday airstrike also damaged two schools and 49 houses in Kyaukme, the TNLA statement said. As of Wednesday afternoon, the military junta has not issued any public statements regarding the airstrikes on Kyaukme. Kyaukme is located on a major trade route linking Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, with Muse, a key trade hub near the Chinese border in northern Shan State. Damage at one of the sites of the junta’s Wednesday aerial attack on Kyaukme (Photo: TNLA) The second bombing raid killed at least seven on Wednesday around a cluster of wildcat mines in Maw Chee, a key production hub for tin and tungsten in Myanmar’s Karenni (Kayah) State, according to the advocacy organisation Karenni Human Rights Group (KHRG). “Bombs struck a small-scale, civilian-operated mining site. The deceased were miners from two different sites,” said KHRG spokesperson Banya Khung Aung. “We may still see the death toll increase, since many of the injured are in critical condition and the bomb exploded in a densely populated area on the hillside.” The hillside near a civilian-run mining site in Maw Chee, Hpasawng Township, Karenni State, which was targeted in a junta airstrike on Wednesday (Photo: Supplied) About 90 percent of the mines in Mawchi, which is roughly 15 miles southwest of the town of Hpasawng, are operated by civilians, according to the KHRG. More than 20 people also sustained injuries in the aerial assault, which occurred around 11am on Wednesday. The airstrikes also damaged at least 20 houses in the area, according to locals. Damage from the Wednesday airstrike on Maw Chee in Karenni State’s Hpasawng Township (Photo: Supplied) Fighting broke out on Wednesday in Hpasawng Township as anti-regime forces led by the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) launched simultaneous attacks against the two remaining junta bases in the area. Last year, anti-regime forces launched attacks on the same junta bases—Infantry Battalions bases 134 and 135—but were unable to capture them. Junta bombs also struck the TNLA-controlled, ruby-mining town of Mogok, Mandalay Region on Wednesday, injuring a man and child shortly after 11am, according to a TNLA statement. Mogok is less than 30 miles northeast of Nawnghkio, where the military regime’s forces have been fighting fiercely to retake territory captured by the Ta’ang armed group. The TNLA and its allies are putting up a strong resistance against the advancing junta forces, according to a Nawnghkio resident with knowledge of the fighting situation. The Danu People's Liberation Army, which is fighting the junta forces alongside the TNLA, claimed on Tuesday that junta forces had been conducting daily airstrikes with Y12 aircraft and fighter jets, targeting the villages where the fighting has been fiercest.

Myanmar junta airstrikes in Karenni and northern Shan states kill at least 12

An aerial attack killed five people on Tuesday afternoon in the Ta’ang army-controlled town of Kyaukme, northern Shan State the evening before killed at least seven near a mining site in Hpasawng Township, Karenni (Kayah) State

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