Nine civilians killed as Myanmar junta intensifies airstrikes in Wetlet Townshi

Mizzima

At least nine local residents, including a four-year-old child, were killed in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region, following two separate junta airstrikes conducted within a five-day span. According to the Wetlet Informational Network, the attacks targeted civilian areas and displacement camps despite the absence of active ground fighting.

The most recent fatal attack occurred at 8:31 pm on 17 December, when the junta air force dropped two 250-pound bombs on Si Taw village in eastern Wetlet Township. The bombs killed four people at the scene – 70-year-old U Nyunt Wai, his 70-year-old wife Daw Myint Kyi, 25-year-old Zeyar Htun, and an unidentified middle-aged woman. Five other residents sustained injuries, and the explosion caused fires that destroyed three houses and a vehicle.

This follows an earlier strike on 13 December, where two bombs were dropped near the Thangonetawtike area, south of Htone Bo village, at 9:30 pm and 9:36 pm. That attack initially killed four people, including Ma Tuzar Nwe (34), Tutpi (26), U Khin Maung Lwin (70), and four-year-old Aye Myat Thuzar. One of the ten injured victims later died from their wounds, bringing the total death toll from the 13 December strike to five. The victims were internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Kalama village in Shwebo Township who had fled to Wetlet to escape previous conflict.

“There was no ground fighting at all. The bombs were dropped on villages where civilians were living without any reason,” said Ko Naga Lay, head of the Wetlet Informational Network, in an interview with Mizzima.