Two more civilians killed as Myanmar junta continues airstrikes during Buddhist New Year

Myanmar’s military carried out airstrikes in the southern part of Magway Region’s Pauk Township on Thursday, killing two civilians on the final day of the Thingyan New Year’s holiday period. Two powerful bombs were dropped on Wunle, a village about four miles south of the town of Pauk, at around 2:30pm, a National Unity Government (NUG) official told Myanmar Now. Two people—a woman and a man in his 50s—were killed instantly, while five others, including a 16-year-old girl, were injured, with four reported to be in serious condition, according to the official from the NUG’s humanitarian aid department in Pauk Township. “There was no fighting there,” the official said, noting that there were no resistance fighters or members of the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia in the area. “It’s just a small village… There wasn’t even a Thingyan water festival pavilion. No celebrations were happening, yet they attacked for no apparent reason,” he said, adding that seven buildings were also destroyed by the airstrike. In many rural parts of the country, people have had to avoid celebrating Thingyan, Myanmar’s most important holiday, due to the regime’s ongoing aerial attacks on areas with a strong resistance presence. On Monday, the eve of the holiday marking the start of the Buddhist New Year, the military bombed a monastery in Sagaing Region’s Shwebo Township, killing two temporarily ordained monks and a novice. Airstrikes and heavy artillery attacks have also been reported in recent days in Mingin, Ayadaw, Salingyi, and Depayin townships, near the Sagaing Region capital Monywa, where the junta’s Northwestern Regional Military Command is headquartered. Villages along the borders of Sagaing’s Yinmabin and Pale townships have also been subjected to raids and arson attacks by junta army columns. In March, regime airstrikes across the country killed at least 483 civilians and injured 418, according to data released by the NUG’s Ministry of Human Rights.

Two more civilians killed as Myanmar junta continues airstrikes during Buddhist New Year

The regime shows no signs of relenting in its attacks on civilian targets as the holiday period comes to a close

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