Two civilians, including a 13-year-old girl, were killed by junta airstrikes in Mandalay Region’s Madaya Township and Sagaing Region’s Kawlin Township on Thursday, according to local sources.
At around 11am, a village in western Madaya Township was bombed from the air, resulting in one civilian death and the destruction of one house, according to the Wetlet Information Network, which reports on the situation in the region.
Madaya Township, which is less than 20 miles north of Myanmar’s second-largest city Mandalay, is partly under resistance control. Villages in the eastern part of the township, were the anti-regime forces are strongest, are frequent targets of junta airstrikes and artillery attacks.
Further details about the attack, including the victim’s identity, were not available at the time of reporting.
Several hours later, a fighter jet dropped two bombs on a school in Inpinlu, a village located about nine miles east of the town of Kawlin in upper Sagaing Region, instantly killing a 13-year-old girl, local sources reported.
At least five others were injured by the explosion at the school, including one who was described as being in critical condition.
“There were poor families staying there. When the fighter jet targeted the school, people were killed and injured. There was no reason for it. They were just displaced people living their lives,” said an official from Kawlin Info, a local news agency.
Photos released on social media by Kawlin Info and the Kawlin Township People’s Defence Force (PDF) show massive damage to the school’s buildings.
Another airstrike was also reported in the same area at around 3:40am on Friday, targeting the nearby village of Thea Chaung, where two more bombs were dropped.
One of the bombs did not explode, while the other went off in a field near the village, causing only minor damage, according to the Kawlin PDF.
Resistance forces seized Kawlin, the township’s administrative centre, in late 2023, but the town was retaken by the regime three months later. However, ant-junta groups have maintained control over surrounding villages.
The military has stepped up its attacks in the area this week following the capture on Monday of Indaw, a town located near Sagaing Region’s border with Kachin State, about 40 miles northeast of Kawlin.
On Wednesday, an airstrike targeting a busy market in Nankhan, a village in neighbouring Wuntho Township, killed at least 25 people, including children. On the same day, the regime also bombed villages in two townships in Chin State, killing at least 12 civilians.
The regime has faced growing criticism for its ongoing attacks in resistance-held areas, which have continued despite its decision last week to declare a ceasefire in the wake of a massive earthquake that struck central Myanmar on March 28.
In a statement released on Friday, a spokesperson for the United Nations rights office denounced the regime’s actions.
“At a moment when the sole focus should be on ensuring humanitarian aid gets to disaster zones, the military is instead launching attacks,” said spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.
According to the latest official figures released by the junta, the quake has killed more than 3,600 people and injured more than 5,000.
Meanwhile, data released by the National Unity Government on Wednesday indicates that junta airstrikes carried out across the country since the quake have killed at least 65 people and injured 60, while artillery attacks have killed seven and injured 31.
