Myanmar junta airstrike on Pauk township grocery store kills five, thousands displaced in Magway Region

Mizzima

Five civilians were killed and six others seriously injured when two junta jet fighters from Magway Air Base bombed Chet Kan village in southeastern Pauk Township on the morning of 10 February.

The strike, which occurred at approximately 10:48 am directly hit a local grocery store, resulting in the immediate deaths of the shop owner and several customers.

Among the deceased were four women, aged between 16 and 54, and a 19-year-old man.

“Two jet fighters dropped bombs, and one directly struck a grocery store in the village. The shop owner and customers were killed instantly, while six others were seriously injured,” a humanitarian aid coordinator in Pauk Township told Mizzima.

“Prisoners of war who had been captured by resistance columns, and CDM police officers recently returned to the junta’s Defence Equipment Factory No. 22 (Ka Pa Sa 22) in Seikphyu Township. Shortly afterward, the areas where they had been held or active were bombed,” a local man said.

Later on the evening of that same day, the junta carried out another aerial strike using a jet fighter. Subsequently, with surveillance drones continuing to operate overhead, most residents have fled their homes and are now taking shelter in nearby forests and farmlands.

More than 25,000 people from 52 villages in Pauk Township are currently facing long-term displacement as a result of operations by a military junta column of around 300 troops in the area.

The ongoing situation has led to severe food shortages and growing humanitarian needs among the displaced population.