This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
Myanmar junta forces launched an airstrike on an insurgent-controlled town in Shan state on the border with China in the early hours of Friday, killing 11 civilians and wounding 11, residents said.
A military aircraft dropped two bombs near the night market in the town of Namhkan, said a resident who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
“At 1 a.m. the bombs fell to the north of the Pawng Pwe night market. About six houses were hit,” he said. “A child and a pregnant woman were killed, entire families were killed.”
Radio Free Asia telephoned Shan state’s junta spokesperson Khun Thein Maung to ask about the incident but he did not answer calls.
Residents said five women, four men, a four-year-old boy and a newborn girl were killed. Residents shared video with RFA showing people clawing through rubble to uncover lifeless bodies.
The border trade town of Namhkan is under the control of the ethnic minority Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance of insurgent groups that has made unprecedented gains against junta forces since late last year.
China has intervened to protect its economic interests in Myanmar and brokered two short-lived ceasefires. Recently, China has been pressing the TNLA to agree to peace, insurgent sources said.
The TNLA and its allies in pro-democracy People’s Defense Forces have this year attacked and captured Nawnghkio, Kyaukme, Hsipaw and Mongmit towns in Shan state and Mandalay region’s Mogoke town.
On Sept. 4, a junta airstrike on Hsipaw town in northern Shan state killed a civilian and injured four.
In southern Shan state, an airstrike on a camp for the internally displaced killed at least nine people late on Thursday, according to Banyar Khun Aung, a vice secretary of the anti-junta Karenni State Interim Executive Council.
“The plane dropped the bomb at around 10 p.m.,” he said. “Nine bodies were found, including seven children and two women. There were also many injured and missing people. A teacher was among the dead.”
The victims were two boys and five girls aged between 10 and 13, and two women in their 40s, he added.
Residents of the area in Pekon township said that more than 1,000 people displaced by the fighting are sheltering in the camp, including about 600 children.
