Junta airstrikes on Kayah State village kill IDP man, injure two others

By Admin 31 Mar 2023

DMG Newsroom
31 March 2023, Demoso, Kayah State

A young man was reportedly killed and two others wereinjured after the military carried out airstrikes on Dawtamagyi Village in Kayah (Karreni) State and fired mortar shells into the village on Thursday.

Two junta fighter jets dropped bombs on Dawtamagyi Village at around 1 p.m. on March 30 and the military’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 102 fired dozens of artillery shells into the village, said a resident of Demoso.

“The junta’s air attack lasted for around an hour. The sounds of heavy weapons fired from the military’s LIB 102 were also heard,” the Demoso resident added.

A 25-year-old IDP man from Dawtamagyi Village was pronounced dead and two other IDP men sustained shrapnel wounds following the junta’s attacks, according to the villagers.

“An IDP man was killed by shrapnel and two others were wounded by artillery strikes,” said a resident of Dawtamagyi Village.

Currently, local health workers and the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) are providing medical treatment to the injured.

A high school building near Dawtamagyi Village was also damaged by the artillery fire, local residents said.

“Two classrooms in the compound of a high school were damaged by the junta’s shelling,” said an eyewitness.

Some clashes between the military and a coalition led by the Karenni Army (KA) and KNDF were reported near the village on Thursday, locals added.

DMG attempted to contact regime spokesman Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun for comment on the reports of civilian casualties, but he could not be reached.

Junta airstrikes on some locations in the western part of Demoso Township on the evening of March 28 reportedly killed one IDP man and wounded four other people.

Fierce clashes between the military and a coalition headed by the KA and KNDF have been ongoing in Demoso Township since March 9 as the former has dispatched reinforcements to the area.

The fighting has forced more than 5,000 local people from seven villages to flee, according to an information team for the Karenni militants.