Junta airstrikes kill 23 civilians in less than three weeks: rights group

20 Apr 2024

DMG Newsroom
20 April 2024, Sittwe

Junta airstrikes killed 23 civilians across Myanmar during the period from April 1 to 19, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said in a statement on Friday.

Five children are among the 23 civilians — nine female and 14 male — killed by the regime airstrikes. Shan State stood first with nine deaths, the AAPP statement said.

So far this month, junta air attacks killed two people in Kyauktaw and three each in Minbya and Myebon townships, held by the Arakha Army (AA).

“There is nothing the regime can do other than airstrikes. The regime will bomb the civilian areas with jet fighters and fire indiscriminately with heavy weapons. The regime is intentionally destroying the interests of civilians,” said a local resident in Minbya.

The United Nations Human Rights Council on April 4 urged member states not to sell jet fuel to Myanmar due to the regime’s excessive use of airstrikes, which it noted can massacre many lives in one place.

In addition, the Human Rights Council has called on countries to stop selling weapons and military equipment to the regime.

“No matter what the United Nations demands, Russia and India are selling weapons to the Myanmar military for their own benefit. The regime may use airstrikes much more, so the public must be careful,” said an Arakanese politician.

The regime, which currently cannot compete militarily with anti-regime forces in ground battles, now mainly uses airstrikes; there were more than 750 airstrikes in the four months from September to December 2023, according to a Justice for Myanmar report released on April 15.