A junta nighttime airstrike near Okphokan Village in Mrauk-U Township, northern Arakan State on 6 August 2024 was targeting a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) office.
The junta aircraft fired two missiles at the FDA office near Okphokan Village at around 2:00 am on the morning of 6 August. The missiles detonated between the FDA office and a nearby village cemetery. Fortunately, despite the explosions, there were no reported casualties.
“The missile exploded between the FDA office and the village cemetery. Thankfully, there were no casualties. The rear side of the office building sustained some damage. The soft soil beneath the area helped absorb the shock from the explosions, keeping the damage to a minimum. Had the soil been harder, the damage could have been much more severe”, an Okphokan villager said to Narinjara.
The motives behind the junta's missile strikes remain unclear. Okphokan Village is near to the entrance of Mrauk-U Town.
This airstrike follows a pattern of recent junta attacks in the region. On 4 June, at approximately 1:00 pm, a junta fighter jet dropped two bombs on Waitharli Village in Mrauk-U Township, resulting in injuries to a Grade 7 student.
Similarly, on 24 May, at around 10:00 am, junta aircraft released two bombs near the District General Administration Office and a local court in Lay Myo Sar Ward in Mrauk-U Town. Fortunately, there were also no casualties reported in this incident.
