Myanmar junta drone strikes kill nine, including woman shielding infant

At least eight civilians and one resistance fighter were killed in a junta drone attack in Mandalay Region’s Ngazun Township on Wednesday, according to local sources, while a three-month-old baby survived after being shielded by its mother during the strike. The attack came after around 100 junta troops clashed briefly with local resistance groups in villages west of the town of Ngazun, located about 40 miles southwest of Mandalay. Following the clash, regime forces launched a ground offensive supported by heavy artillery and drones, residents said. “The casualties were caused by drone bombs,” a local man told Myanmar Now on Thursday. According to residents, bombs exploded in Dat Taw and Ku Lar, villages located about four miles west of Ngazun. Three people were killed in Ku Lar and five in Dat Taw, while the resistance fighter’s place of death remains unclear. The victims included seven men and two women between the ages of 30 and 50. Residents said they were unable to recover the bodies because junta forces continued launching drone strikes at people attempting to retrieve the dead. “People tried to collect the bodies, but they had to flee after another drone bomb was dropped while they were carrying them,” the resident said. One of the women killed was identified as 34-year-old Khin Ohmar Soe, who died while holding her three-month-old baby. “Khin Ohmar Soe suffered fatal shrapnel wounds while shielding the child with her body,” the resident said, adding that the baby’s father later risked his life to rescue the infant. Khin Ohmar Soe had fled to her husband’s native village of Ku Lar earlier this month after junta troops raided Min Gyo, the village where the family had been living, on May 7, forcing residents to flee. During that earlier raid, four civilians in Min Gyo were injured in drone attacks, while three others were killed in the nearby village of Taung Lel Taw. Residents said around seven local resistance groups were involved in Wednesday’s fighting, although it remains unclear which group the dead resistance fighter belonged to. “The clash was brief and not a full-scale battle,” the resident said. “Resistance groups moved in to provide cover fire as junta troops advanced into the villages.” The junta column is now reportedly stationed in villages east of Ku Lar, including Dat Taw, Ngar Lunt, Tha Pyay Thar, and Sat Pyar Kyin. “They brought food supplies along with heavy and light weapons. We heard they are planning operations lasting about three days,” another resident said. The military has intensified offensives in Ngazun Township since the start of the year, displacing at least 10,000 civilians, according to local sources. On April 23, junta fighter jets bombed a Buddhist novitiation ceremony procession in Nat Gyi Sin, another village in the township, killing a 15-year-old girl and injuring 12 others, including women and children. The military has also escalated air and ground attacks across neighbouring townships in Myingyan District, including Myingyan, Taungtha, and Natogyi, forcing some resistance groups to retreat toward Magway Region.

Myanmar junta drone strikes kill nine, including woman shielding infant

The attack came after a brief clash with local resistance forces in Mandalay Region’s Ngazun Township

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