Myanmar junta airstrikes target monasteries in Myaing and Pakokku during Thadingyut festival
Mizzima
Military junta forces deliberately conducted airstrikes on villages in Myaing and Pakokku Townships, Magway Region, during the Thadingyut festival period. The attacks destroyed monasteries and residential houses, forcing thousands of local civilians to flee to safety, according to displaced persons assistance groups and local residents.
On the afternoon of 25 October, during the early Thadingyut period, three gyrocopters from Bagan-Nyaung U Airport and a jet fighter from Tada-U Airport bombed a monastery in Thit Pu Lway Kone Village, Pakokku Township.
According to the Anyar Myay Civil Society Organization-Myaing, the airstrike resulted in the total destruction of the village monastery and seven houses by fire. Additionally, shops, a village power transformer, and three heads of cattle were struck and destroyed.
There were no human casualties as residents had evacuated in advance due to the presence of a military column in the nearby Twin Ma village controlled by pro-junta armed militias.
The Anyar Myay Civil Society Organization-Myaing stated that there were no active clashes or revolutionary troop bases in the village at the time of the attack, asserting that the junta specifically targeted civilians.
“The junta is deliberately attacking and destroying monasteries. We strongly urge everyone to remain vigilant. The Anyar Myay Civil Society Organization-Myaing cautions residents near Kaing Taw Ma Village to be extremely alert to air raid risks,” the organization announced via social media.
Similarly, on 21 October, four gyrocopters from Nyaung U Air Base bombed a monastery in Tharsi Village, Myaing Township, damaging both the old and new monastic buildings. Tharsi Village, home to over 200 households, has been torched by the military twice since the coup.
Furthermore, a junta airstrike in Myaing Township on 24 October killed three civilians and injured three children. On 18 October, an airstrike on Ohn Taw Village in Kamma Town, Pakokku Township, claimed the lives of six locals, including an eight-year-old child.
Since early June, the military junta has deployed approximately 500 troops to control oil fields – a critical resource for local revolutionary forces – in Pakokku, Myaing, and Pauk Townships. This column has been stationed in Te Gyi Village at the Pauk-Myaing border for nearly two months.
Local media reports indicate that since early October, revolutionary forces have launched offensives against the stationed column, inflicting heavy casualties on the military. Consequently, the junta continues to send reinforcements via convoys from Pakokku-based 101st Division and through aerial deployments.
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