Myanmar Military Junta Air Strikes Kill 26 Civilians in Arakan and Sagaing

JAKARTA - At least 26 people were killed and 19 others were injured in an air raid by the ruling military junta in the west and northwest of the country, local media reported Wednesday.

Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reported 17 people were killed, including women and children, and another 14 were injured when an air strike by the military junta hit Yoengu Village, Ponnagyun City, Rakhine State on Tuesday.

The village is located about 33 kilometers (21 miles) northeast of Sittwe, the state capital, which was seized by the Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine armed group fighting the military, in March 2024.

A resident of Ponnagyun, who spoke to DVB on condition of anonymity, said the number of deaths could rise as some of the injured were in critical condition.

"We are trying to find out the names of the victims," a resident said, adding that at least five houses were burned in the attack, Anadolu reported (25/2).

In a separate attack in the northwestern Sagaing region, nine civilians, including two children, were killed and five others injured in what DVB described as a paramotor attack by the military.

A resident of Myinmu City said two paramotor dropped three bombs at the location where local residents used Starlink devices to access the internet.

It is known that clashes between ethnic armed groups and the Myanmar military have escalated since the February 2021 coup that ousted the elected government led by the National Democratic League led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

The takeover plunged the country into more than four years of emergency rule, which officially ended last July.

The Myanmar junta also held general elections in three stages between December 28 last year and January 25.

According to the human rights watchdog, more than 6,000 people have been killed and nearly three million displaced by fighting between military authorities and opposition groups since the coup.