Six dead, nine injured as Myanmar junta targets TNLA-held Kutkai

At least six people were killed and nine others injured when the Myanmar military carried out an airstrike on the northern Shan State town of Kutkai on Tuesday, local sources said. A boy and an elderly woman were among those killed when a junta warplane bombed a residential neighborhood near the second branch of the Yar Su Thit Hotel in Kutkai’s Ward 2. “A six-year-old boy and a 93-year-old woman were killed on the spot when the bombs hit near their house and the hotel,” a woman told Myanmar Now. “Two women and a man who had been staying at the hotel also died last night. The body of another man was found beneath the rubble this morning.” Local sources said the victims were hotel guests—eight women and one man. The only survivor, the mother of the six-year-old boy who was killed, remains in critical condition. The airstrike, launched around midnight on Tuesday, appeared to target the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) as part of the junta’s ongoing military campaign. The TNLA recently lost control of Nawnghkio, a strategic town located on a key trade route linking Mandalay, the largest city in central Myanmar. As rumors circulate about a possible handover of Hseni—a town controlled by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and located just 16 miles south of Kutkai—to the military, residents in Kutkai are increasingly uncertain about what lies ahead. “Kutkai had been spared from junta airstrikes for an extended period,” a man from Kutkai told Myanmar Now. “The sudden resumption of airstrikes has left many residents fearful and anxious.” During Operation 1027, a major offensive launched in October 2023 by the Brotherhood Alliance, the town of Kutkai was captured by the TNLA and the MNDAA. After the offensive, the MNDAA incorporated Kutkai into its administrative area of Special Region 1.Fighting has intensified in TNLA -controlled areas of northern Shan State as the junta steps up air and ground assaults in an effort to reclaim lost territory. Control of these areas is crucial for the regime’s supply routes and regional influence, while for the TNLA, holding ground is vital to consolidating gains and expanding political leverage. Kutkai town, home to nearly 50,000 people across eight wards, is largely made up of ethnic Kachin, Shan, Ta’ang (Palaung), and Mong Wong Chinese communities, with smaller populations of Bamar, Wa, Karen, and Gorkhas. In recent days, aerial assaults by the military regime have spiked in TNLA-controlled areas of northern Shan State.On the morning of July 29, a jet fighter dropped bombs on the eastern parts of Mogok, a ruby-mining town under TNLA control in Mandalay Region. Four people were killed and nine others wounded in the attack. Later that day, the military carried out an airstrike targeting Monglon, a town held by the TNLA about 20 miles from Mogok, killing one civilian. The TNLA issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the junta airstrikes on civilian targets in its controlled areas, describing the attacks as war crimes.Between June 1 and July 29, at least 30 aerial assaults occurred in seven townships in northern Shan State and Mandalay Region under the control of the Ta’ang armed group. Data compiled by Myanmar Now shows that 29 people, including children, were killed and 77 injured in these attacks.The TNLA issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the junta airstrikes on civilian targets in its controlled areas, describing the attacks as war crimes. In the statement, the group also called on China, the United Nations, and other governments to take immediate action to halt the junta airstrikes on civilian areas.As the junta intensifies air and ground attacks across Shan State, often in civilian areas, local populations are living in fear. And with control of key towns like Kutkai and Hseni hanging in the balance, and strategic trade routes at stake, both sides appear poised for further conflict.

Six dead, nine injured as Myanmar junta targets TNLA-held Kutkai

Kutkai residents fear more violence as rumors swirl of nearby towns falling into the hands of the military

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