One civilian killed, three injured in regime airstrikes in Minbya, Maungdaw

By Admin 10 Jun 2024

DMG Newsroom
10 June 2024, Maungdaw

Junta airstrikes killed one civilian and injured three others in Arakan State’s Maungdaw and Minbya townships on Sunday.

A junta air assault on Minbya town, which is held by the Arakkha Army (AA), killed a woman and destroyed a Buddhist monastery. The 43-year-old victim has been identified as Daw Yin Yin Aye.

“A junta jet fighter dropped a bomb on the village at around 2 p.m. yesterday, killing a woman,” said a local woman in Minbya.

A junta air attack on Kainggyi Village, part of Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, at about 5 a.m. on June 9 wounded a Buddhist monk and two children. The injured have been identified as Venerable Aggawana, abbot of the village monastery, and a boy and a girl ages 9 and 12 respectively.

“The regime conducts airstrikes in Maungdaw on a daily basis due to the fierce fighting in the area. Locals are afraid of the junta airstrikes,” said a local resident in Maungdaw.

Fierce fighting between the military and AA has been ongoing as the ethnic armed group attempts to seize the remaining military camps in Maungdaw Township. The regime blew up a bridge in Ale Thankyaw Village on June 9.

Since the latest fighting began on November 13, the AA has seized nine townships in Arakan State and Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State.

The regime, which continues to lose territory to AA advances in Arakan State, is increasingly using airstrikes to target civilian populations, and locals report a prevailing sense of fear.

According to a report by the research organisation Federal Journal Myanmar, 118 civilians were killed last month in clashes, by landmines planted by regime troops, or in junta airstrikes in ethnic areas. The most civilian casualties were reported in Arakan State, where 68 deaths were reported.