Myanmar military kills six in ‘double-tap’ airstrikes on Sagaing dam

A series of junta airstrikes timed to maximise casualties left at least six people dead and more than 30 injured in Sagaing Region’s Kyunhla Township on Monday, according to residents and local resistance forces. The victims were mostly small-scale gold miners operating near the Thaphanseik Dam, about 10 miles west of the town of Kyunhla, the sources said. Rafts used by the miners were targeted twice, the first time by a single fighter jet at around 1pm and the second time by two fighter jets at around 4:30pm, the sources added. “The first jet dropped bombs and fired rockets, burning rafts and killing several people. Then two more came as rescue efforts were still ongoing, resulting in many others being injured,” a fighter from a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) battalion based in the area told Myanmar Now. The “double-tap” strike—hitting the same target twice, the second time to kill as many rescue workers as possible—is expected to result in further deaths, as a number of the injured were in life-threatening condition, the PLA fighter said. A local woman said that seven gold-dredging rafts were destroyed by the bombing, while four others were damaged. Gold miners are worried that there will be more bombings, she added. “Since they bombed in both the morning and the afternoon, everyone is quite terrified. A lot of people died, so everyone is scared. Some are already packing up their belongings,” she said. This is the second time this year that the regime has carried out airstrikes in the area. In March, two fighter jets flying from an air base in Homalin destroyed 12 gold-dredging rafts near the Thaphanseik Dam, killing 13 people. The attacks appear to be aimed at cutting off sources of revenue for resistance forces collecting taxes from gold dredgers and miners operating in areas west of the dam under their control. In August, water released from the Thaphanseik Dam inundated several Sagaing Region townships. Despite the mass displacement caused by the flooding, the regime continued to bomb many of the affected areas. The dam was briefly seized by resistance forces earlier this year but later recaptured by Myanmar’s military and pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militias, which currently control areas east of the dam.

Myanmar military kills six in ‘double-tap’ airstrikes on Sagaing dam

That attack targeted small-scale gold-mining operations that generate income for local resistance forces

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