Three women were killed and two others injured after a drone strike that apparently targeted junta-appointed voter registration workers in Sakhangyi Village, Launglon Township, Dawei District, Tanintharyi Region.
The attack occurred on January 20 as a group of voter registration workers, guarded by junta troops, were entering a house in the village, according to locals.
The explosion hit the house, killing three adult women and injuring two others, including a child, a human rights activist from Launglon Township said.
“The attack seems to have been aimed at the group that was going from house to house collecting voter registrations. But it struck a residential area instead. Three civilian women were killed, and a man and a child were injured. It appears the strike was carried out by a resistance group targeting the registration team, but something went wrong,” he said.
The junta has announced that the final round of voting in the election will be held on January 25, with Launglon, Thayetchaung, and Palaw townships in Tanintharyi Region included in this round.
However, local sources said that in Launglon Township, where resistance forces are active in many areas, the junta will only be able to open polling stations in some downtown wards of Launglon and in a few settlements in the Sakhangyi and Kamyawkin village tracts.
No group has claimed responsibility for the drone strike.
“We don’t know which group carried it out. We only learned about the incident through the news,” said an officer from the Launglon People’s Defence Force (PDF).
Many resistance groups based in Tanintharyi Region, along with the Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 4, have already announced that they strongly oppose and categorically reject the junta’s election.
Furthermore, the Brigade-4 Coordination Team (BCT-4), a joint body made up of PDF units under the National Unity Government (NUG) and KNU Brigade 4 forces, issued a statement on December 23 last year warning that it would not tolerate any actions that facilitate the holding of the election.
