Myanmar military airstrikes on trading site kills more than two dozen

BANGKOK (AP) — Airstrikes by Myanmar’s military on a trading junction in the central Magway region killed more than two dozen people and wounded 20 others, a resistance group and independent online media said Sunday.

The attack is the latest in a series of frequent and deadly aerial strikes targeting armed pro-democracy forces and ethnic armed groups in the country. The strikes often cause civilian casualties.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021, triggering widespread popular opposition. After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.

The strikes near Pyaung village, west of Mindon township, occurred twice on Sunday morning, according to Ko Myat, the spokesperson of the Thayet District Battalion No. 4, which operates in Magway.

He said that two jet fighters bombed a trading point on a road, where locals and truck drivers load and exchange goods, and at least 25 people, including two women, were killed in the attacks. About 14 vehicles were burned or damaged by the explosions.

“We are carrying out search, rescue and cremation operations,” Ko Myat said.

Myanmar’s media outlets, including Mizzima, reported the death toll at between 20 and 25. They also posted photos and videos showing what they said was the aftermath of the strike, with images of bodies and damaged vehicles.

The military hasn’t mentioned any attack in Mindon, about 320 kilometers (120 miles) northwest of Yangon, the country’s largest city.

Arakha Times online media reported that the bombs struck the area where traders exchanged goods between Magway and neighboring Rakhine State. It said most of the victims were traders from Rakhine, where the Arakan Army is based.

The Arakan Army is the well-trained and well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement, which seeks autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. It began its offensive in Rakhine in November 2023 and has seized a strategically important regional army headquarters and 14 of Rakhine’s 17 townships.

Since fighting escalated in Rakhine, the military has imposed severe restrictions on trade routes, worsening food shortages.

Last Tuesday, an army airstrike on a village market in Rakhine’s Ponnagyun Township reportedly killed at least 17 people.