One civilian killed by airstrikes as Myanmar Navy convoy moves upriver to Kachin State

Fourteen Myanmar Navy vessels on the Irrawaddy River near Madaya Township, Mandalay Region, on Aug. 21. (Credit: PDF)

At least one civilian was killed and two others were injured by the retaliatory airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on Sagaing Region’s Wetlet Township on Saturday. Wetlet, located along the Irrawaddy River 50 miles (80 km) northeast of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa, is partially controlled by the People’s Defence Force (PDF).

A Wetlet resident told DVB on condition of anonymity that two regime fighter jets had been providing air cover for a convoy of 14 Myanmar Navy vessels—composed of two combat vessels, four landing crafts and eight boats—traveling upstream along the Irrawaddy from Mandalay Region to Kachin State’s Bhamo Township since mid-August.

The battle over control of Bhamo has been ongoing since December 2024. Bhamo is located 118 miles (190 km) south of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina and 56 miles (90 km) southwest of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) headquarters of Laiza.