Monk and three IDPs killed in Myanmar military drone strike on monastery in Mandalay’s Ngazun

Mizzima

A Buddhist monk was killed while having his meal, and three internally displaced persons (IDPs) sheltering inside a monastery died after junta forces launched a drone bomb attack in Ngazun Township, Mandalay Region, according to local sources.

A local resident told Mizzima that junta troops, numbering in the hundreds, marched into Min Jo village at around 8:00 AM 6 September and subsequently targeted and bombed Ywar Thit Taw Monastery, located west of the village, using drones at around 11:00 AM.

“The military has been launching offensives in Ngazun for three months now. This bombing happened even though there was no active fighting. They dropped the bomb while a monk was having his meal; IDPs were also killed and others were injured. Drones are dropped every day in Ngazun. They are launching rotational military sweeps across the east, west, south, and north of Ngazun almost every day,” the local resident said.

According to local residents, junta forces also carried out drone strikes on areas where IDPs were hiding in the forest, specifically in Myauk Kyin village on the border of Myotha and Ngazun townships on 5 September, and west of Than Kone village on 2 September, killing one displaced man.

On 7 September at around 3:45 PM, a fighter jet bombed Thar Kyin village. Although there were no casualties, as local residents had already fled the village, several houses were burned down and destroyed, sources said.

In late August, around 36,000 displaced households in Ngazun Township faced severe hardship due to rising water levels in the Ayeyarwady River and subsequent flooding. Aid workers reported that displaced families remain in urgent need of food supplies and drinking water.

Residents of Ngazun are currently grappling with natural flooding, military ground offensives, and airstrikes simultaneously. More than 30,000 local residents in Ngazun Township have been forced to flee their homes to seek safety.