Two children among seven killed by junta airstrikes on last day of Myanmar’s Thingyan festival

Airstrikes carried out by Myanmar’s military killed at least seven people, including two children, on Wednesday, the last day of Thingyan, the country’s traditional New Year’s holiday. The attacks were reported in Ayadaw and Wetlet townships in Sagaing Region, Thabeikkyin, Singu, and Ngazun townships in Mandalay Region, and Mindat Township in Chin State. All are regarded as resistance strongholds. On Wednesday morning, a junta aircraft dropped bombs on a Thingyan pavilion set up for children in Sitsi, a village in Ayadaw Township about 20 miles from the Sagaing capital Monywa. One child was killed and at least nine others were injured, a local man told Myanmar Now. “They dropped some bombs at around 9:30am, then circled for a while and dropped some more. They also fired with machine guns. We recovered the child’s body. The lower part was blown apart and the abdomen was ripped open,” the man said, adding that there had been no fighting in the area before the attack. Seven of the injured were children under the age of 10, including several who had lost limbs, according to another resident of the village. In addition to the airstrike, troops stationed at a nearby base also fired howitzers, forcing villagers to flee, the sources said. Later in the day, another airstrike targeted Thitseintgyi, a village in neighbouring Wetlet Township, instantly killing a child and three others, according to locals. The bomb targeted the former police station in Thitseintgyi, which is located on the western bank of the Ayeyarwady River, about 10 miles east of the town of Wetlet. Two nearby houses were also damaged in the attack, according to locals. “There wasn’t any festival or celebration going on there. There weren’t any troops there, either. The only things in that area are a small rural health centre and a police station. The airstrike hit right across from the police station,” said a local man who spoke on condition of anonymity. Bloodstains on the ground in Sitsi, a village in Sagaing Region’s Ayadaw Township, where a junta airstrike killed a child celebrating Thingyan on April 16 (Photo: Supplied) The deceased were identified as five-year-old Min Khant Phyo, 35-year-old Thitseintgyi resident Hnin Hnin, and two people in their 50s from Mandalay, Soe Tint and Khin Thida Tun. Six others were injured, including a woman who was said to be in serious condition with a thigh wound. In Mandalay Region, the first incident occurred at around 7am in Leikkya, a resistance-controlled village in Thabeikkyin Township. Several buildings were damaged but no casualties were reported, the Pyin Oo Lwin District People’s Defence Organisation (PDO) said in a statement. At around noon, another airstrike targeted the entrance of Nagamauk Mountain, north of the village of Tayawpin in Singu Township, injuring eight civilians, according to the statement. “During Thingyan, many people visit Nagamauk Mountain. There are monkeys there, so people go to feed them. That’s why there were many casualties,” said an official from the Pyinoolwin District PDO. In the evening, the junta carried out another airstrike on Sintat, a village in Ngazun Township, killing an elderly man and woman, according to local residents. “They dropped a bomb in the village and another outside. Civilians from the village—a woman and a man—were killed. Three or four houses were completely destroyed,” said a local man. In Chin State, the regime targeted the town of Mindat, which was captured by resistance forces late last year. The town was hit with two bombs at around 5:30pm, destroying seven houses, according to residents. The junta announced a temporary ceasefire until April 22 for post-earthquake relief operations following the Sagaing earthquake on March 28, while the National Unity Government also announced a suspension of offensive operations until April 20. However, both sides have accused each other of ceasefire violations. While there has been a noticeable decrease in fighting on the ground in central Myanmar since the earthquake, the junta has continued to conduct regular airstrikes. Since the start of the annual Thingyan festival last weekend, a number of attacks by the regime have targeted monasteries, resulting in the death of several monks.

Two children among seven killed by junta airstrikes on last day of Myanmar’s Thingyan festival

Regime attacks were reported in at least six townships, despite the holiday and a ceasefire declared in the wake of last month’s deadly earthquake

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