Myanmar Junta Attacks Kill Civilians, Including Child, Along Kachin-Sagaing Border
Civilian casualties are mounting across Indaw and Maw Luu townships in northern Myanmar’s Sagaing Region as military junta forces intensify airstrikes and artillery shelling near the Kachin State border.
On the evening of November 9, a junta artillery shell struck a home in Ponehon village, Maw Luu Township, instantly killing U Kyaw San, in his 50s, and his wife, Daw Myint Kyi.
The attack came just a day after a regime airstrike hit the same village on November 8, killing a six-year-old child and two adults. The two consecutive strikes brought the village’s death toll to five within 48 hours.
Facing heavy losses in ground battles, regime forces have reportedly turned their weapons on non-combatant civilian communities.
“After suffering heavy losses on the battlefield, the junta has taken out its anger on the villages,” a Maw Luu resident told Network Media Group (NMG).
“Yesterday, an artillery shell hit a house in Ponehon village, killing a married couple. The day before, an airstrike killed a child and two adults. People are so terrified that no one dares to stay in the village anymore.”
Attacks have also extended into neighboring Indaw Township, where a November 7 airstrike destroyed two houses in Sipein village.
Frontline sources close to junta units report that the military regime has issued scorched-earth orders targeting villages around Maw Luu.
"The junta's tactical operations commander in Maw Luu town has ordered troops to reduce all surrounding villages to ashes," a frontline source revealed.
"He also summoned local transport drivers and threatened to bomb surrounding villages if any vehicles left town. Fighter jets continue to fly low and launch strikes, creating severe danger for displaced civilians."
At least 20 civilians have been killed across Indaw, Kawlin, Wuntho, and Maw Luu townships in recent junta operations, forcing residents from at least 15 villages to flee their homes.
Recent atrocities include the targeted bombing of a resistance-operated hospital in Kawlin Township, which killed a doctor and several healthcare workers, as well as the execution of three internally displaced persons (IDPs) by regime soldiers in the Doepin mountain range.
As fighting escalates along the vital highway connecting Mandalay to Kachin State, commercial trucks and passengers remain stranded along multiple stretches.
Local anti-junta resistance forces have issued urgent advisories against traveling the Katha-Maw Luu and Katha-Tigyaing routes, urging residents to take extreme safety precautions.
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