Junta airstrikes on Kyauktaw kill two civilians, injure five others

By Admin 05 Apr 2024

DMG Newsroom
5 April 2024, Kyauktaw

A junta air attack on Kyauktaw town in Arakan State has killed two civilians and injured five others, according to local residents.

Civilian casualties were reported after a junta jet fighter dropped multiple bombs on Kyauktaw at about 3 p.m. on April 4.

The deceased have been identified as a 14-year-old boy and a local man in his 40s. The injured — three women and two men — range in age from 16 to 60.

“The young victim was not hit by bombs when a junta jet fighter carried out an air attack on Kyauktaw for the first time. He was hit by bombs while he was driving a motorbike when the junta jet fighter dropped bombs on Kyauktaw the second time. He was pronounced dead on the spot,” said an eyewitness in Kyauktaw.

Local residents fled in fear due to the reported civilian casualties following the airstrikes on Kyauktaw.

Civilian casualties inflicted by the Myanmar regime’s air and artillery strikes continue to rise in Arakan State as the regime has been targeting residential areas in apparent retaliation for its recent string of military defeats.

According to a DMG tally, 54 civilians died and 122 were injured at the hands of the regime in Arakan State in March. The actual figures on the ground are likely to be higher.

“The regime is deliberately attacking innocent people with fighter jets and drones, and people are suffering a lot. Civilian casualties are reported on a daily basis. We live in fear of when the regime will attack us,” said a local resident in Kyauktaw.

Since launching an offensive against the regime in November of last year, the AA has seized Rathedaung, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Pauktaw, Myebon and Ramree townships, and Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State.

Fierce clashes between the military and AA continue as the ethnic armed group is targeting at least five junta positions in Arakan State’s Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Myebon and Ann, the latter being where the military’s Western Command headquarters is located.