Following the junta’s bombing of Sadon, a town in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, along the main highway connecting Waingmaw and Kan Paik Ti, schools and offices shut down, and residents started to flee.
“The airstrike has caused massive panic among the locals. Many are now trapped by looters, and some have already started leaving the town,” a town resident said.
Although no active clashes were occurring, the junta struck Sadon with two jet fighters around 2:20 pm on September 29, killing eight civilians, including three children. KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu said the airstrike left six civilians injured as well.
The junta carried out four bombing runs on Sadon, a KIA-controlled town, hitting a busy downtown market and areas thought to be KIA hideouts.
Three children were among those injured and are in need of urgent medical care, a Sadon resident taking refuge in Myitkyina, the junta-controlled capital of Kachin State, said.
“One child’s injuries were so severe that he was struggling to breathe while asking for help. Three children were definitely injured, though some reports say it could be as many as five or six. Some kids even died on the way to the hospital. It’s clear that children need urgent help right now,” he told MNJ.
Most of the children who were killed or injured were reportedly school-aged, around 10 years old.
Sadon Town, under KIA control since June 11, 2024, holds strategic importance as it sits on the route linking Kan Paik Ti, a key China-Myanmar trade hub. Until the recent airstrike, the area had been relatively calm, with no major incidents.
In addition to civilian casualties, the junta's airstrike also destroyed shops and homes.
The junta launched offensive operations in Waingmaw Township in August, aiming to retake the towns of Chipwi, Pang War, Sadon, and Kan Paik Ti, all of which were lost in 2024.
But after its offensives in Waingmaw Township failed, the junta ramped up airstrikes targeting civilians, Colonel Naw Bu said.
On the same day as the Sadon bombing, September 29, the junta conducted additional airstrikes in Kawnglanghpu Township and the Lang Se area of Tsawlaw Township, where military tensions were high in Kachin State.
Photo credit - CJ
