Myanmar’s military has continued to launch drone attacks despite declaring a ceasefire in the wake of a deadly earthquake that struck the country late last month, according to local sources.
On Tuesday, regime forces carried out aerial assaults on a resistance-held village in Ayeyarwady Region’s Lemyethna Township, near Rakhine State, said a resident of the area.
“We heard several explosions near Tone Taw just this morning. They also attacked with drones two days ago,” the local, from the nearby village of San Kone, told Myanmar Now on Tuesday.
The area has been the site of clashes since about a week before a 7.7-magnitude earthquake devastated central Myanmar, including its second-largest city Mandalay, on March 28.
A day before the quake, fighting was reported near the No.5 Military Advanced Training School in Kwin Kauk, a village in neighbouring Ingapu Township, sources there said.
The National Unity Government and other groups opposing the regime announced ceasefires in earthquake-affected areas on March 29, but the junta did not follow suit until four days later, after facing criticism for continuing its offensives in other parts of the country amid ongoing relief efforts.
On March 29, junta paramotor assaults killed at least four civilians in War Taw Kwin, a village located about five miles north of Tone Taw, which was seized by anti-regime forces on March 23.
“Two men and two women died as they were running towards the bomb shelter. The bombs suddenly struck their houses and they weren’t able to make it to the shelter in time,” a witness living in Lemyethna Township said.
Three others sustained injuries in the attack, local sources claimed. Bombs dropped on a football field in the centre of War Taw Kwin also reportedly killed a dozen cattle.
More than 2,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Lemyethna Township amid ongoing clashes between regime and resistance forces that began on March 19, according to the Ayeyarwady Youths’ Union.
“We cannot go back to our village. Even if we could, we would not be able to flee again,” said one villager, adding that the phones of most residents had been seized for security reasons.
Since February, fighting has spread from Rakhine State into Ayeyarwady Region, as anti-regime forces led by the Arakan Army have advanced towards key junta bases along their border.
Meanwhile, drone attacks have also been reported in southern Shan State since the earthquake. On March 30 and 31, and again on April 5, the regime carried out assaults on the villages of Ye Pu and Hpa Yar Taung in Nyaungshwe Township, destroying at least five houses.
The villages are located around 27 miles south of Inle Lake, in an area where the earthquake destroyed nearly 2,500 houses.
