The junta’s air force bombed Panpar village in southern Chin State’s Mindat Township on Sunday evening, killing three civilians, including two minors.
Two junta fighter jets twice attacked the community, 36 miles south of the township’s administrative centre, starting at 3pm on the final day of the Thingyan festival, which marks the Myanmar New Year.
Seventy-year-old Hrawng and four-year-old Har Khwi Ghing died at the scene of the bombings. A 17-year-old girl, Thang Myu Mang, was critically wounded, and succumbed to her injuries later that evening.
Four women and two men were also injured and nine houses were destroyed in the airstrike, according to a statement released by the Mindat chapter of the anti-junta Chinland Defence Force (CDF).
Renewed clashes broke out between the Myanmar military and local resistance groups in Mindat in March. Junta units stationed in the township frequently fired heavy artillery during said battles, leading the CDF to urge area civilians to dig protective bunkers for themselves.
This week’s airstrike on Panpar was not preceded by any recent episodes of fighting, according to a Mindat resident who spoke to Myanmar Now on the condition of anonymity.
Martial law has been in effect in the township since May 2021, four months after the country’s military coup carried out on February 1.
Similarly, serious clashes have occurred in northern Chin State, with a 30-vehicle junta convoy destroyed in an ambush by resistance forces near the capital of Hakha on April 13.
The military, facing unprecedented levels of nationwide resistance, has relied heavily on the use of its air force in its attacks, causing massive civilian casualties.
The most deadly aerial attack since the coup was carried out by the junta on April 11 in Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region. The military dropped two bombs on the village of Pa Zi Gyi, killing more than 170 people.
CAPTION: Panpar village is pictured after the bombing on April 16 (Supplied)
