Myanmar military’s bombs kill mother of six as junta struggles to retake territory from Karen forces

The Myanmar military conducted an airstrike in Hpapun, Karen (Kayin) State on Wednesday, killing a woman in her 50s with six children, according to the Karen National Liberation Army, the ethnic armed organisation controlling the town. Brigade 5 of the KNLA—which operates as the armed wing of the long-established Karen National Union (KNU)— claimed that two junta aircraft dropped bombs 10 times on two of Hpapun’s four urban wards that day. A photo accompanying the Brigade 5 statement shows a woman lying on her side in the road. The victim, named Naw Hae Hku, was a mother of six children, according to Lieutenant Colonel Saw Kler Doh, a spokesperson for KNU/KNLA Brigade 5. The airstrike occurred in Hpapun despite the lack of any recent fighting, Lt-Col Saw Kler Doh told Myanmar Now. Civilian deaths and injuries from junta airstrikes have become a common occurrence in Myanmar and in Karen State in particular. In March of this year, a bombing raid by the regime’s air force hit a Buddhist monastery in Hpapun, killing eight civilians who had left their homes amid the fighting to seek shelter there. Woman killed by a junta airstrike in Hpapun (Photo: KNU-Mutraw News) Junta uses aircraft to bypass KNLA siege An alliance of anti-junta armed groups led by KNU/KNLA Brigade 5 succeeded in capturing Hpapun on March 26 of this year but was unable to take control of a junta tactical hilltop base south of the town. Since March, the anti-junta forces have tried to keep the tactical base surrounded to prevent junta troops from advancing into the town. “Day by day, there are only sporadic exchanges of small arms fire and drone attacks between the two sides,” Saw Kler Doh said. “Occasionally, there are battles when junta troops try to break through the blockade or attack battalion bases held by the joint anti-junta forces.” Despite the siege, the tactical base’s garrison has now held off attacks by the KNLA-led fighters for more than six months without surrendering. Lt-Col Saw Kler Doh attributed this to their ability to call on the air force for supplies or support in battle. “Their commanders never give the order to retreat. They can always call in airstrikes when they need them,” he said. “They also regularly come and airdrop weapons, ammunition, and food. Since it’s also raining all the time, they have an advantage in defending the camp.” Woman showing an injury from a junta artillery shell in KNU/KNLA Brigade 1 territory (Photo: KNU/KNLA Brigade 1) Heavy artillery shelling Regime forces have reportedly shelled civilian targets such as schools and residential buildings using heavy artillery in Karen and Mon states, especially in parts of the Dooplaya District under the control of KNU/KNLA Brigade 6 and Thaton District under the control of KNU/KNLA Brigade 1. On October 1, junta troops from a base camp south of Lay Kay Kaw Myo Thit—a newly built town south of Myawaddy—fired 120mm mortar rounds at the nearby Hpa Lu Gyi village, in the operational territory of KNU/KNLA Brigade 6. The shells destroyed two buildings on a school compound in the village. School officials in Hpa Lu Gyi said there were no civilian casualties as students had been dismissed early. However, heavy artillery shells fired from the same base also hit the neighbouring Hpa Lu Lay village, injuring a man and a woman, according to a KNU/KNLA Brigade 6 statement. Myanmar Now could not reach spokespersons from the military council for comment on the alleged shelling detailed in the Karen armed organisation’s statement. Civilian casualties also resulted from junta artillery strikes in KNU/KNLA-held territory in Mon State’s Kyaikto and Bilin townships last month, according to Padoh Saw Aye Naing, a spokesperson for the KNU in the state’s Thaton District. Seven civilians, including elderly women from three villages in Bilin Township and one village in Kyaikto Township, sustained injuries from shells fired by the junta troops of the army’s Light Infantry Division 44 and Artillery Battalion 310, Padoh Saw Aye Naing said.

Myanmar military’s bombs kill mother of six as junta struggles to retake territory from Karen forces

Civilian casualties are mounting as the military regime bombs and shells territory lost to Karen anti-junta fighters, including the town of Hpapun, Karen State

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