Junta airstrikes kill civilians, displace residents in Kyaukphyu

By Admin 21 Jan 2026

DMG Newsroom

21 January 2026, Kyaukphyu

Civilian casualties are rising in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, as Myanmar’s military regime continues airstrikes and artillery attacks on villages where local residents live, according to local sources.

The military regime has been targeting civilian communities in Kyaukphyu Township, which is not an active battlefield, forcing growing numbers of residents to flee their homes.

On January 17, the regime carried out two airstrikes on Kyaukkalay Village in Kyaukphyu Township, launching four attacks using kamikaze drones. A Myanmar Navy warship also fired at least 10 rounds of heavy weapons at the village, killing two women and injuring a man and a woman.

One of the victims was identified as 95-year-old Daw Aung Mra Nu, a displaced woman from Yaynantaung Village in Kyaukphyu Township.

“The situation in Kyaukphyu is relatively calm, with no intense fighting these days. But warships and fighter jets of the military regime are firing on civilians. The regime is attacking villages that have no connection to the fighting,” a Kyaukphyu resident told DMG.

On January 19, the military regime again bombed Kyaukkalay Village with two drones, destroying two houses in a fire.

Although Kyaukkalay Village is about 10 miles away from the nearest fighting, residents said the military regime is deliberately targeting civilians.

Earlier, on January 14, a Myanmar Navy warship fired heavy weapons at Thaphanchaung Village, killing a man and a woman.

A social aid worker in Arakan State said the military regime’s deliberate killing of civilians constitutes a serious violation of human rights.

“People are already struggling to survive because of the war. Attacking civilians in such a difficult situation is extremely cruel. Violence must stop,” the aid worker said.

Due to ongoing airstrikes and artillery shelling, thousands of Kyaukphyu residents have been displaced. Some areas where civilians have fled are also being targeted, resulting in further casualties from heavy gunfire.

According to a DMG tally, more than 100 civilians have been killed or injured by the military regime’s airstrikes and maritime heavy weapons and small-arms fire.