Deadly junta airstrike leaves Kyauktaw daily-wage earners jobless

By Admin 08 Oct 2026

DMG Newsroom

8 October 2026, Kyauktaw

Displaced people relying on manual labour at the Indian Market in Kyauktaw Town have been left unemployed and struggling for basic survival following the deadly junta airstrike on the facility.

Hundreds of internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering in Kyauktaw Town depend on the Indian Market to earn a daily living as cargo porters, vendors, and small-scale traders.

The market remains closed after the military bombardment caused mass civilian casualties, leaving displaced workers facing severe daily food shortages.

“Many IDPs here used to work at the market,” said U Maung Tun Hlaing, a displaced resident from Sittwe currently sheltering in Kyauktaw. “My daughter and I worked as porters there to feed our family on daily wages. When the market was bombed while people were carrying cargo, it brought immense tragedy. Some were injured, while those remaining are left jobless and living in constant terror.”

Due to continuous aerial threats, most displaced residents from town wards have fled again to surrounding rural villages or to stay with relatives.

Family members noted that the strike critically injured primary breadwinners, creating compounded financial crises involving medical bills and daily subsistence.

“My sister lost her son in the junta attack on the Indian Market, and her husband was severely injured,” said Daw Ma Thein Nu Chay, an IDP woman from Ponnagyun Town sheltering in Kyauktaw. “They used their remaining K400,000 to seek medical treatment. As all displaced people here are impoverished and struggling just to eat, no one is in a position to help each other. Urgent aid is desperately needed.”

Thousands of IDPs reside in Kyauktaw Town and surrounding villages, with a significant majority dependent on cargo handling at the Indian Market.

“People in the IDP camps used to go to the market every morning to look for work,” said Ma Oo May from an IDP camp in Kyauktaw Town. “We survived on whatever daily wages we earned. Now that the market is closed, everyone is in extreme distress. We are still terrified even to walk in that direction.”

Relentless aerial bombardment by the military regime has forced displaced populations across Arakan State into repeated cycles of displacement.

The junta airstrike on the Indian Market in Kyauktaw Town on September 28 killed 50 civilians and injured 57 others.

Over 600,000 displaced people are currently fleeing across Arakan State, with many forced to relocate repeatedly due to ongoing junta air attacks.

In addition, junta airstrikes targeting IDP camps in Ponnagyun Township on October 4 and 5 killed eight civilians, including displaced people, and injured 11 others, according to a statement released by the Arakan Army.

As the military regime escalates aerial bombardments across Arakan State, civilian casualties continue to rise steeply.