Maungdaw Twsp among top targets of junta air raids, report finds

31 Jan 2023

DMG Newsroom
31 January 2023, Sittwe

Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township was among the top five townships in terms of suffering junta airstrikes since the military takeover on February 1, 2021, according to a research report by Myanmar Peace Monitor, a project of Burma News International (BNI).

The regime carried out aerial bombings for 258 days over the past two years, between February 1, 2021, and January 25, 2023, on areas where People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and ethnic armed groups are based, as well as in civilian areas, said the report released on Tuesday.

Myawaddy and Papun townships in Kayin State suffered from junta air raids for 27 and 24 days respectively, the two hardest-hit locations in terms of the number of days targeted. Kyainsekgyi, also in Kayin State, recorded 12 days of airstrikes, and Maungdaw and Sagaing Region’s Katha both recorded 11.

The survey was based on the total number of days in which air attacks were carried out, not by the number of sorties flown, meaning the total number of air raids is significantly higher across most of the townships where aerial attacks were reported, said an official of the BNI-Myanmar Peace Monitor. On average, townships suffered from three to five air attacks during each day that qualified for tallying, according to the report.

The regime has also targeted civilian areas including schools and displacement camps in its aerial bombings, as well as locations where PDFs are active.

In the latest fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) from August through November of last year, the AA seized junta outposts near the Bangladeshi border, with the regime carrying out air raids in response.