Two locals killed in Myanmar junta gyrocopter attack in Sagaing’s Budalin

Mizzima

A man and a woman were killed at about 12:00 p.m. on 12 October when a junta aircraft bombed the jetty at Hnon Tan village on the Chindwin River in Budalin Township, Sagaing Region, according to the Budalin Township Humanitarian Team.

The team said the attack was carried out with a gyrocopter, a small helicopter-like aircraft, that came from the Northwestern Regional Military Command in Monywa. It identified the victims as Ma Hnin Hnin Oo, 28, and Ko Aung Naing Tun, 35.

Ko Zin Min Than, head of the team, told Mizzima on 13 October that there were no military columns in the area or fighting in the village at the time, and that the attack was without cause. He said there are currently no junta ground offensives in Budalin Township but that attacks with suicide drones and gyrocopters have been frequent.

He said the 12 October attack was the fifth in October and that none of the five involved active clashes or targeted resistance camps or positions. He called it a pattern of directly targeting civilians. Three residents have been killed across the five attacks, he said.

Separately, the junta bombed four villages in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region, on 12 October with a Y-12 aircraft, killing four civilians and injuring 13, according to a statement from the Wetlet Information Network. DVB reported at least three civilians killed and 15 injured in the same attacks.

Fortify Rights said in January that paramotor and gyrocopter attacks are mainly carried out in opposition-held areas where armed opposition groups are not present or lack effective air defenses, because the low-flying, slow aircraft are vulnerable to ground fire.