Five civilians were killed and nine others injured when the Myanmar junta carried out two airstrikes and artillery attacks on villages in Ponnagyun Township, Rakhine State, on the morning of 7 November, according to local residents.
At around 11:30 am, a jet fighter from the Military Commission dropped two consecutive bombs on Yoe Tayoke village, killing four women and one man, local sources said. Three women and four men from the same village were also injured in the attack.
Around the same time, two more bombs were dropped on Aung Phyu Pyin village, injuring one woman, according to reports from residents.
“When I heard the sound of the plane approaching, the bomb dropped immediately. Everyone was terrified and ran for cover as the aircraft launched its strikes. Afterward, it circled overhead once or twice,” a resident told Mizzima.
Earlier, at around 11 am, a 55-year-old man was injured when a 120 mm artillery shell fired from the Sittwe-based Light Infantry Battalion 344 struck Kwan Taung village in Ponnagyun Township, local residents said.
“The children are suffering so much. People are helpless and don’t know what to do. They’re brutally dropping bombs on civilian areas,” one local resident said, describing the aftermath.
“There are people whose flesh is scattered and their limbs are completely torn off. There are also people who were buried without their heads,” he added.
The latest attacks follow a series of airstrikes carried out by the Military Commission on 30 and 31 October across Kyaukphyu, Ponnagyun, and Rathedaung townships in Rakhine State.
On 30 October, a bombing in Out Zee Kai village in Moe Sai Kyun, Rathedaung Township, killed an elderly man and injured two others. Later that afternoon, around 4 pm, two 500-pound bombs were dropped on Zin Chaung Khon Bwe village in Kyaukphyu Township, killing five civilians, including two women, and injuring more than ten others.
On 31 October, a military airstrike struck Pannila village in Ponnagyun Township, killing four displaced people — including two children — and injuring six.
