Burma
Relatives cradle the bodies of children killed by junta artillery strikes on civilian targets in Belin and Thaton townships, Mon State on March 8 and 18. /CJ
Three civilians including a child have been killed and more than 3,000 residents forced to flee their homes in recent days as Myanmar junta forces intensify artillery attacks and airstrikes against civilian targets in Mon State and Bago Region, according to Karen human rights and revolutionary groups.
On Monday, four junta fighter jets conducted nine airstrikes, dropping 28 bombs on villages in Kyaukgyi and Shwekyin townships in Bago Region, destroying houses and schools and forcing some 3,195 residents to flee their homes, the Karen National Union (KNU) said.
The areas targeted are in territory controlled by KNU’s Brigade 3.
The attacks began on Monday evening with two junta jets dropping 20 bombs in five airstrikes on Takatpu village in Shwekyin Township, Bago Region. The number of civilian casualties from these attacks is unknown, but residents from four nearby villages were forced to flee their homes, the KNU reported.
At the same time, two other fighter jets dropped eight bombs on Takawdae village in Kyaukgyi Township, razing five houses and a primary school. A 70-year-old resident was injured in the airstrike and thousands of civilians from 17 nearby villages were forced to flee, the KNU said.
A resident told the Karen Information Center that the airstrikes on civilian targets came after junta troops suffered heavy losses in a clash with Karen resistance forces in the area.
On the same day, junta artillery battalion 602 under the command of Division 44 based in Kyaikhto Township, Mon State, used 120mm artillery rounds to shell Karaway village in territory controlled by KNU’s Brigade 1.
Villager U Kalar, 54, was killed and his wife Daw Po, 49, suffered head injuries in the shelling. The couple’s neighbor, 31-year-old Ko Aung Lwin, died after sustaining injuries to his abdomen and arms in the attack, the KNU reported.
On Tuesday, the junta’s 44 Division fired 120mm shells indiscriminately at nearby villages after its headquarters and residence of its commander were damaged in drone strikes launched by the People’s Defense Force (PDF) and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the KNU’s armed wing.
On Saturday, a 6-year-old child died from head injuries at A Win Gyi village in Belin Township, Mon State when junta artillery battalion 314 indiscriminately shelled villages with 81mm rounds, said the Karen Hunan Rights Group (KHRG).
The junta artillery strikes on civilian targets came after two regime soldiers were killed and another two were injured by Karen resistance drone strikes on the battalion, according to Karen local media outlet Salween Press.
Last Tuesday, light infantry battalion 207 and artillery battalion 310 used 120mm and 105mm artillery rounds to shell Zee Pyaung village in Kyaikhto Township, Mon State, injuring a 51-year-old resident, the KNU said.
Since the 2021 military coup, more than 500,000 residents in KNU territory in Mon and Karen states and Bago and Tanintharyi regions have been forced to flee their homes by junta raids and indiscriminate artillery and airstrikes, said the KHRG, which monitors lists of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
