Myanmar junta’s airstrikes kill dozens throughout the country in less than a week

The Myanmar air force continued its bombing campaign across several states and one region this week, injuring several dozen and killing at least 23, according to local villagers and news sources. An airstrike on Ma Naw Thar village in Sagaing Region’s Homalin Township killed a three-year-old girl, her mother, and another civilian woman sheltering in a monastery on Monday at around 4:30pm. “A fighter jet dropped bombs over the monastery after junta troops retreated from the village,” said a villager, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The airstrike was one of two that the air force conducted in the village that day, according to villagers, who also said that a civilian man, a five-month-old infant, and seven other children between five and 16 years old sustained injuries in the attacks and needed emergency treatment. Since March 30, resistance forces have been attacking junta troops as well as junta-trained Pyu Saw Htee militias and the allied forces of the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA) in the villages of Ma Naw Thar, Kyun Kone and Let Pan Thar along the Chindwin River’s southwest bank. Junta and SNA forces have recently gained ground in Homalin Township, which shares borders with India and Kachin State. However, resistance forces have maintained control of the small town of Shwe Pyi Aye, Homalin Township since capturing it last November. The air force targeted at least two villages in northern Shan State’s Mabein Township on Tuesday, killing a monk and five other civilians and injuring seven, a source connected to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) said. All civilian casualties were reported in Moe Lone village, around 20 miles northwest of Mabein, on the bank of Shweli River and near the border between Sagaing Region and northern Shan State. The attack came shortly after local anti-junta resistance forces met with members of Brigade 12 of the KIA—a powerful Kachin State-based ethnic armed organisation—in a nearby village. There were no casualties reported following the other airstrike on Khway Haung Done village, a few miles north of Moe Lone, at around 6pm on Tuesday. Rakhine State media outlets reported more junta airstrikes in the state’s Minbya and Myebon townships—currently under the control of the Arakan Army, a powerful anti-junta ethnic armed group—between April 1 and 3. Three women died in an attack on Myit Thar village, Minbya Township on Wednesday morning, according to the Arakan Princess news outlet based in the state, and eight people incurred severe injuries. Another airstrike killed three civilians in Kan Htaunt Gyi town, Myebon Township on Tuesday, according to local sources. “The town is nearly empty. I think they’re bombing it on purpose,” a Kan Htaunt Gyi resident said. “The Arakan Army doesn’t have any presence here and there is no fighting going on inside the town.” There were no civilian casualties reported after junta warplanes conducted multiple air raids over Mindat Township, Chin State. Although members of the local K’Cho Chin ethnic community observe their New Year holiday on April 1, there were no gatherings in Mindat Township that might have become targets for the air force. “April 1 is New Year’s Day for the K’Cho Chin,” a representative of the Chin People’s Administrative Team said. “Normally we would hold festivities or gatherings, but there were none this year. It has been two years since we last celebrated the New Year in Mindat.” According to the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), more than 600 children have been killed by the military’s bombs, shells, and bullets since they seized power in Myanmar’s 2021 coup.

Myanmar junta’s airstrikes kill dozens throughout the country in less than a week

Following the bombing of a monastery in Karen State on Sunday, the air force’s attacks have resulted in at least 23 civilian deaths across four states and Sagaing Region in the past three days

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