Woman, granddaughter killed by junta airstrike in Sagaing’s Kanbalu Township

An airstrike on a village in Sagaing Region’s Kanbalu Township killed a 60-year-old woman and her granddaughter on Thursday, according to local resistance forces. The attack took place at around 1:45am and targeted Tharsi, a village located east of the town of Kanbalu on the bank of the Ayeyarwady River, sources told Myanmar Now. The woman and her three-year-old granddaughter died instantly, while six others, including four women, sustained injuries to their hands and faces, the sources said. “There was no ground fighting at all. They just randomly dropped bombs from the air without warning,” said a member of an anti-junta group based in the area. “We found the child’s body in the field about 50 feet away from her house. The grandmother’s body was in very bad condition,” he added. The regime has carried out a series of deadly airstrikes in Kanbalu Township this week, resulting in heavy civilian casualties, including 15 killed on Tuesday at a makeshift hospital run by the National Unity Government. “We have to be alert for airstrikes 24 hours a day,” said a local resident. “They want to cause maximum damage. They treat civilians as military targets.” Last week, the regime recaptured the gold-mining town of Thabeikkyin, located east of Kanbalu on the opposite side of the Ayeyarwady River. Since then, resistance forces have reported ongoing military operations by the regime in Kanbalu Township, including both troop movements on the ground and airstrikes. On Thursday, fighting broke out as junta troops left Yamanay, one of several villages where the regime has established a foothold in a bid to regain control of the section of the Shwebo-Myitkyina road east of the town of Kanbalu. The jmilitary has been trying to regain control of strategically important roads in the area since late last year. Last month, after establishing bases in villages between Kanbalu and Kawlin to the north, the regime was able to retake the road between the two towns.

Woman, granddaughter killed by junta airstrike in Sagaing’s Kanbalu Township

The regime’s aerial assaults have killed more than a dozen civilians in the township so far this week

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