Civilian casualties mount as Myanmar’s military intensifies aerial bombardments. Recent airstrikes in Rakhine State, including the deaths of two children, highlight the escalating violence across the country.
Two children were among four civilians killed in junta airstrikes on Pauktaw Township, Rakhine State, on Thursday, escalating a week of aerial bombardments across Myanmar. The attacks, part of an ongoing campaign, also injured several others in villages controlled by the Arakan Army (AA).
The airstrikes targeted the villages of Kyauk Taung, Ma Nyin Kaing, and Sin Tet Maw, located on islands in an estuary near Sittwe, one of the few remaining junta-held areas in Rakhine. A local resident reported that a Y-12 aircraft deliberately and swiftly attacked civilian targets, first bombing Ah Nauk Ye and then Sin Tet Maw villages.
The victims included a 24-year-old man, a 12-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boy, and a 50-year-old woman. Local reports indicate at least 17 people were injured in the attacks.
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These airstrikes come amid rising tensions in Rakhine State, particularly after the AA’s takeover of the army’s Western Regional Military Command headquarters in Ann. In recent days, anti-regime forces have also launched heavy artillery attacks on junta bases near Sittwe, leading thousands of displaced civilians to seek refuge in the city’s monasteries.
On February 20, in the afternoon, the #military junta carried out an airstrike on #Pauktaw town and nearly the entire township in #Arakan land using a Y-12 aircraft, dropping nearly 50 bombs. According to local sources, at least 10 innocent civilians were injured in the attack. pic.twitter.com/rqDxStLG02
— Maung Khin Zaw (@MaungKhinZaw4) February 20, 2025
The Rakhine attacks are part of a broader escalation of junta airstrikes across Myanmar. On Wednesday and Thursday, similar bombardments killed civilians, including children, in Kachin and Shan States.
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In Kachin State’s Momauk Township, airstrikes on Wat Hin, Nant Inn, and Aung Myin Thar villages killed at least eight people and injured three, according to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). These attacks coincided with intensified fighting near Bhamo, close to the Chinese border.
In northern Shan State, junta airstrikes targeting areas controlled by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) have also intensified following stalled ceasefire talks. On Thursday, an airstrike in Nawnghkio Township’s Lauk Hpan village killed an elderly woman and injured four others, including two children. On Friday, a drone strike damaged a monastery in Ohn Ma Thee village, and on Wednesday, airstrikes in Nawnghkio’s urban areas killed three and injured four.
The escalating aerial campaign by the junta is causing widespread civilian casualties and displacement across multiple states in Myanmar.
