Myanmar junta airstrikes kill three civilians sheltering in Rakhine State monastery

Airstrikes by Myanmar’s military killed three civilians and injured 15 others at a monastery in Rakhine State’s Ponnagyun Township on Tuesday, according to a local civil society group.The attack took place at around 7pm and targeted the village of Aung Pyu Pyin, located about 13 miles north of the town of Ponnagyun, the Ponnagyun Youths Association said in a statement.The three deceased were identified as Than Maung, 53, Ma Ri, 45, and Thet Kyaw, 19, the group said. The injured included three boys and two girls under the age of 15. Most of the victims were war-displaced villagers sheltering at the monastery.“I heard a bomb drop, and it was very loud. I tried to sleep downstairs, but couldn’t because I was too scared,” a woman living in a nearby village told Myanmar Now.In its statement, the Ponnagyun Youths Association—which has been assisting displaced people in the area—condemned the airstrikes, saying there was no justification for targeting civilians outside of a conflict zone.“Targeting a monastery, which is a sacred place in any village or community, with an airstrike is a despicable and immoral act,” the statement said, adding that such actions were “completely unacceptable in a Buddhist country.”Ponnagyun, the township’s administrative centre, is located just 20 miles northeast of the state capital Sittwe. The town is controlled by the Arakan Army (AA), which has in recent weeks engaged in fierce clashes with regime forces near Sittwe. The junta did not comment on Tuesday’s airstrikes in Ponnagyun, but pro-regime Telegram channels claimed that the target of the attacks was an AA camp.Myanmar’s military regularly targets schools, religious buildings, and residential areas with airstrikes, drone attacks, and heavy artillery fire, claiming that resistance forces often hide in these locations. However, the majority of casualties in these attacks are civilians.According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, junta airstrikes killed 26 people nationwide in the first three weeks of March. These and other attacks have claimed a total of 45 lives during the same period, including 30 in Magway Region alone, the group said.The AA, which has captured 14 of Rakhine State’s 17 townships since launching an anti-regime offensive in November 2013, has vowed to bring the entire state under its control.Currently, major clashes are taking place near Sittwe and the major port town of Kyaukphyu, which are both still under regime control. Only Munaung Township, the third township still occupied by the junta, remains untouched by conflict.The AA and its allies have also launched attacks on junta outposts along Rakhine State’s border with Bago, Magway, and Ayeyarwady regions, with clashes continuing to intensify.

Myanmar junta airstrikes kill three civilians sheltering in Rakhine State monastery

The attack on a village north of the town of Ponnagyun comes amid intensifying clashes in nearby Sittwe Township

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