Myanmar junta airstrikes killed at least 15 civilians last week

Min Aung Hlaing, after swearing in as president, had announced a ‘100-day peace plan’

Kyaw Lin Htoon for UCA News

The military junta in Myanmar continues airstrikes targeting villages and towns, killing more than 15 people in the past week, according to independent estimates based on eyewitness accounts.

The strikes were reported in the Bago and Sagaing regions, as well as in Rakhine, Kachin, Karen, and Chin States. This was despite the military dictator-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing’s recent call for a “100-day peace plan” on April 21.

Eight deaths were reported from the Bago region alone when the junta’s military launched a series of airstrikes starting at around 9 am on May 3 and continuing till the next day, targeting three townships in the Toungoo district.

“We didn’t even know where to run. The planes were circling in the sky, dropping bombs here and there,” Sein Kyi, who lives in Chaung Kyoe village in the district, told UCA News on May 11.

She said a 42-year-old man from her village was killed.

“We fled and haven’t dared to return to the village yet. We are currently hiding in the jungle,” she said.

Hundreds of residents from approximately 10 neighbouring villages have abandoned their homes and are currently seeking safety in the wilderness, Sein Kyi added.

According to local reports, a Buddhist monastery in Taung Pu Chaung village was destroyed by fire during the bombardment on May 3-4.

Following a brief two-day lull, the attacks resumed past noon on May 7 when two jet fighters and an Mi-35 attack helicopter struck boat docks in three villages within Phyu Township and Bwae Aye Su village in Htantabin Township.

According to local sources, the junta’s airstrikes killed four boat workers, who were identified as Zaw Win Htut, Thae Khe, Sai Ko Ko, and Wa Gyi, along with two unidentified children, while injuring others.

“A total of six people died, including two children.

“No armed groups were moving through the area. They just came and killed civilians for no reason at all,” a relative of one of the victims lamented.

Consecutive airstrikes in Sagaing Region killed at least four civilians, local residents said while refusing to reveal their names.

Mone Dine, an official from the Wetlet Informational Network, told UCA News that three civilians were killed on the morning of May 6 when fighter jets bombed Sakhan Thar village and its surrounding areas in northeastern Wetlet Township.

“The deceased included two men and one woman, while another villager was injured, and about three or four houses were destroyed,” he said.

The military strikes continued the next day, May 7, targeting the Win Mana Hospital in Kani Township, Sagaing Region, killing one civilian. Local residents reported that several hospital staff members and patients were also injured in the attack.

On May 8, jet fighters targeted the resistance-controlled town of Mindat in Chin State. The morning strikes dropped four bombs on the town’s eastern side, followed by afternoon incendiary attacks within the township; no casualties were reported.

In Rakhine State — where the ethnic armed group, the Arakan Army (AA), has already seized control of the majority of townships — the junta conducted two separate aerial bombings on Minbya and Kyauktaw townships on May 7.

According to a statement released by the AA, three civilians, including a young child, were killed in those strikes.

The junta attacked Kin Mon Chaung Gyaing village and its surroundings in Minbya Township. On that same day, airstrikes were also carried out near Thon Khwa village in Kyauktaw Township, killing two men and one child, and injuring at least 10 others.

On May 8, junta airstrikes hit civilian sites in Kachin and Karen States. In Hpakant Township, Kachin State, bombs struck a jade mine and an Anglican church; no casualties were reported as residents had already fled.

However, an attack on a village school in Payarthonzu Township, Karen State, injured three people and destroyed the building.

Since Min Aung Hlaing became President in April, junta airstrikes and artillery killed 95 civilians in Mandalay Region, according to the Emergency Management Committee. Among the victims, 72 were women, children, or the elderly.

Data compiled by the Burmese Women’s Union (BWU) revealed that the junta’s airstrikes and ground operations nationwide killed 44 women and injured 57 others during April.