Three killed in airstrikes on Sagaing Region village near ancient Pyu city

Aerial bombing killed three civilians as well as injuring a child and at least nine other civilians in Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region on Monday, according to locals and resistance fighters. The airstrikes occurred around thirteen hours apart in the village of Ngar Pi Oe, less than two miles north of the ancient Pyu city and UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hanlin. Aircraft attacked around 30 minutes after midnight on Monday, then returned at around 1:40pm and struck Ngar Pi Oe with bombs three more times. The bombs dropped during the nighttime strike detonated near the village school, damaging nearby houses.The casualties occurred when the aircraft returned in the afternoon. A couple in their 60s and a man were killed, while a woman, seven men, and a child sustained injuries, according to a soldier from a PDF Shwebo District Battalion. The injuries suffered by the woman and one of the men were critical, residents of the village said. “There have been no clashes near the village targeted by the airstrikes, and no military columns are advancing. These attacks were clearly directed at civilians,” said an officer of Shwebo District Battalion 5 of the People’s Defence Forces. He added that casualties from the afternoon attack would likely have been higher if most residents had not fled the village after the nighttime strike. Details about the people killed and injured in the afternoon airstrike have yet to be confirmed. The village school was reportedly not damaged in the nighttime attack. “The bomb missed the school but hit nearby homes instead, destroying seven to eight houses,” said an officer from the Wetlet Information Network, which tracks airstrikes and military activity in Sagaing Region. Ngar Pi Oe village was home to displaced people from Mandalay Region, some of whom stayed with relatives while others took shelter in the village school, residents of Shwebo reported. Tens of thousands of civilians from townships in northern Mandalay Region and neighbouring parts of northern Shan State have fled their homes as junta forces have recaptured those areas, fleeing across the Ayeyarwaddy River to Sagaing Region. Junta aircraft have reportedly been targeting the monasteries and schools where displaced people usually take shelter—often the only structures in small villages with the capacity to house large numbers of people. The air force also attacked a road travelled mostly by civilians on January 7 near the village of Ywar Soe, some 11 miles west of Shwebo. The attack, which also hit a nearby camp for displaced people, resulted in the deaths of two civilian men on the road as well as a man and a woman from the camp. As of January 26, junta airstrikes in Sagaing Region have left 64 people dead and at least 109 injured this month. Airstrikes also killed 88 people and injured at least 170 in Sagaing Region, according to figures collected by Myanmar Now.

Three killed in airstrikes on Sagaing Region village near ancient Pyu city

A village sheltering displaced people—less than two miles north of the ancient Pyu city and UNESCO World Heritage site of Hanlin—was targeted by junta bombing on Monday

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