One killed, two injured in Myanmar junta paramotor bombing in Mindon, PDF battalion says

Mizzima

One resident was killed and two were injured on 22 October when three paramotors bombed civilians traveling in Mindon Township, Magway Region, according to Thayet District Battalion 4 of the People’s Defense Force (PDF).

The paramotors, which the battalion said took off from the Thayet-based No. 12 Defense Equipment Factory (Ka-Pa-Sa 12), dropped nine bombs at about 5:00 p.m. on people between Ywar Thit and Hnget Pyin villages. Ko Myat, the battalion’s information officer, told Mizzima that Maung Phoe La Min, 25, of Kyo Wa village was killed and two men, aged 42 and 62, were injured. One of the injured is in stable condition and the other seriously hurt, he said.

He said the group from Kyo Wa were traveling for work and resting between the two villages when they were attacked, and that there were no military operations or clashes in the area. No ground troops are present, but residents of Kyo Wa, Ywar Thit, Hnget Pyin and nearby villages have fled, he said.

The battalion accused the junta of deliberately attacking non-military civilian areas in Mindon and committing war crimes. Ko Myat said he believes the attacks are meant to frighten the public about the revolution.

The battalion urged residents to take cover when they hear a paramotor engine, which it said can be heard from a distance, and to build bomb shelters near their homes. The UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar said in August that in incidents in upper Sagaing, paramotor pilots allegedly cut their engines as they approached targets, leaving little or no warning.

Earlier attacks in Mindon include 8 October, when a paramotor strike on Chin Nit village killed a 12-year-old and an 83-year-old, and 12 October, when a bombing of Mae Zali village killed a 40-year-old man and destroyed two houses, according to the battalion.