Myanmar junta’s airstrikes in Rakhine State claim more civilian lives

Three civilians, including a four-year-old boy, were killed by an airstrike in Rakhine State’s Ann Township on Thursday, in the junta’s latest deadly aerial attack in the state this week. The victims were residents of Thea Kan Htaung, a village located about 23 miles northwest of the township’s administrative centre, local sources reported. Two others were injured by the airstrike and a monastery in the neighbouring village of Sin U Taik was also damaged, the sources added. Ann Township, located in central Rakhine State, is where the junta’s Western Regional Military Command is headquartered. Earlier in the week, two other attacks—in Taungup Township to the south and Myebon Township to the north—left at least five civilians dead and a dozen injured, according to local sources. On Tuesday, an airstrike on the village of Kan Seik Taung in Taungup killed three women and injured seven others, sources there told Myanmar Now. This was followed the next day with an airstrike on the village of Tote Chaung in Myebon. Two people were killed in that attack, including an 11-year-old boy. Five others were injured, sources said. “They dropped two bombs on the village, even though there was no fighting in the area. It appears they are just targeting civilians,” said a local man, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Arakha Army (AA), which is waging an offensive for control of the state, reported last month that the military killed a total of 268 civilians and injured another 640 in the first six months of the current conflict, which began in November of last year. The group, formerly known as the Arakan Army, also claimed that 600,000 civilians have been displaced by the fighting. Myanmar Now could not independently verify these figures. Since the start of its offensive, the AA has captured nine of Rakhine State’s 17 townships, as well as Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State. It currently controls Myebon, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Pauktaw, Ramree, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, and Buthidaung townships, and is fighting for control of Ann, Maungdaw, and Thandwe townships. On June 16, the group issued a statement warning locals that it was planning to intensify its attacks on junta bases in Maungdaw. It urged residents to leave the area, saying that the situation “could prove life threatening.”

Myanmar junta’s airstrikes in Rakhine State claim more civilian lives

The regime’s aerial assaults have killed at least eight people and injured more than a dozen others in recent days, sources said

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