BY PC Bureau
Myanmar’s military launched deadly airstrikes across northern regions late Wednesday and early Thursday, killing at least 44 people, including children and the elderly, in violation of a ceasefire declared after a powerful earthquake struck the country on March 28, according to local media and residents.
The attacks targeted civilian areas in Chin State and Sagaing Region, intensifying fears of further violence in areas already ravaged by conflict since the 2021 military coup.
In Chin State’s Tedim Township, a midnight airstrike on Saizang village obliterated a family home with a 500-pound bomb, killing six members of a single household, including a couple aged 43 and 40, their three sons (17, 14, and 5), and their 10-year-old daughter, a local resident told Myanmar Now.
ALSO READ: Arambai Tenggol’s Thangting Hills Plan Sparks Alarm
The resident, speaking anonymously due to fear of reprisals, said two bodies were unrecoverable, and a surviving 10-year-old son was hospitalized with severe injuries. Images from Chin Revolution News showed collapsed homes in Saizang, underscoring the strike’s devastation.
A young boy emerged as the sole survivor when an airstrike by the junta regime brutally claimed the lives of six family members in a matter of seconds last night in Myanmar.
At such a tender age, and unable to even speak yet, he now faces a stark future in an orphanage,… pic.twitter.com/ExPtEBElnC
— Chindwin News Agency (@TheChindwin) April 10, 2025
Further south in Chin State’s Mindat Township, another airstrike at 9 p.m. struck Phwi village, killing six people, including an eight-month-old boy, two seven-year-old children, a 68-year-old man, a 72-year-old woman, and a 36-year-old Christian pastor, according to residents. A local told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that a single jet fired twice before dropping two 500-pound bombs, leaving nine others injured, three critically. “There was no fighting,” a Mindat resident said, emphasizing the civilian toll.
In Sagaing Region’s Wuntho Township, an evening airstrike on Nan Khan village killed 26 people, including women and children, and injured 23, said Nay Bone Latt, a spokesperson for the exiled National Unity Government (NUG). The junta targeted a police checkpoint manned by NUG-aligned People’s Defense Force (PDF) fighters at a village intersection, causing widespread civilian casualties. “The bombing hit the heart of the village,” a resident told RFA, declining to be named for safety reasons. “Some are still dying in hospitals.”
The NUG reported no details on military casualties from the attack, which came days after its militia seized Indaw town, 30 kilometers northeast of Nan Khan, a significant rebel advance. Recent victories by ethnic armies and NUG-aligned militias in Chin and Sagaing—strongholds of resistance to junta rule—may have prompted the military’s retaliatory strikes, analysts suggest.
Despite a declared ceasefire (April 2–22), junta forces continue attacks across Myanmar. Reports reveal ongoing airstrikes and shelling, bringing fear and destruction to civilians.
See the infographic for incident details and impacted areas.
Photo Credit: @DVB_English pic.twitter.com/NEXw7XMG3u
— Insight Myanmar Podcast (@InsightMyanmar) April 10, 2025
ALSO READ: Lawlessness in Imphal: Masked Gunmen, Grenades, and a Dance Ban
Despite a junta-declared ceasefire on April 2 to allow earthquake relief efforts, fighting has persisted between military forces and rebel groups, with both sides accusing each other of violating the truce. However, local reports indicate junta airstrikes have disproportionately harmed civilians, with at least 70 deaths since the ceasefire, including six children, 30 women, and 34 men, according to data compiled Thursday.
The escalating violence has deepened Myanmar’s humanitarian crisis, with airstrikes compounding the suffering caused by the recent earthquake. In Saizang and Phwi, residents mourned the loss of entire families and community leaders, while in Nan Khan, survivors scrambled to save the wounded amid limited medical resources.
As clashes continue, international calls for accountability grow louder, but Myanmar’s military remains defiant, targeting areas where resistance to its rule is strongest. For now, civilians bear the heaviest cost of a conflict showing no signs of abating.
