Seventeen civilians killed by airstrikes in Rakhine State; Another 9 die after paramotor attack in Sagaing Region

Seventeen civilians killed by airstrikes in Rakhine State

A total of 17 civilians, including women and children, were killed and 14 were injured by airstrikes in Yoengu village of Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, carried out by the Burma Air Force on Tuesday, according to the Arakan Army (AA). Ponnagyun, located 21 miles (33 km) northeast of the Arakan State capital Sittwe, was seized by the AA in March 2o24.

A Ponnagyun resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the number of civilians killed might increase as some of the injured are in critical condition at the hospital. “We are trying to find out the names of the victims,” he added. At least five homes in Yoengu village were destroyed by fire caused by the airstrikes, according to residents.

Ponnagyun residents displaced from their homes due to fighting between regime forces and the AA since 2023 have been living at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp located in Yoengu village. The AA warned residents in 14 of 17 Arakan townships under its control, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chin State, to remain alert for regime airstrikes.

Another nine die after paramotor attack in Sagaing Region

Nine civilians, including two children, were killed and five others were injured by a paramotor attack carried out on Shwekyaungkan village of Myinmu Township, Sagaing Region, from the regime’s Northwestern Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters in the region’s capital Monywa on Monday. Myinmu, located 36 miles (58 km) east of Monywa, is partly under People’s Defence Force (PDF) control.

One Myinmu resident said that two paramotors dropped three bombs on one location where residents were using a Starlink device to access the internet. “The military has repeatedly used paramotors and gyrocopters to bomb peaceful gatherings and protected civilian sites—schools, hospitals, monasteries, and houses—across Myanmar’s central lowlands,” according to a Fortify Rights report on Jan. 26.

Residents in Sagaing’s Homalin Township, 331-362 miles (533-582 km) north of Monywa and Myinmu, told DVB that at least seven civilians were killed and an unknown number were injured in Paenwegone village during a gyrocopter attack carried out from the Homalan Air Force Base on Feb. 21. At least 549 people have been killed in 536 aerial attacks in Sagaing Region since March 28, according to DVB data.