At least nine people were killed and 30 injured in a junta bombing raid on an internally displaced persons (IDP) in Kalay Township, Sagaing Region last Friday evening, according to initial accounts from local sources.
Two bombs fell on the IDP camp in the village of Koke Ko some 45 miles south of Kalay, in an area controlled by resistance forces.
Three of the nine people killed were not identifiable because their intact remains could not be recovered, according to members of the People’s Defence Organisation of Kalay Township.
“The bombs landed direct hits on the IDP camp,” said a local resident from Kalay Township who requested anonymity for security reasons. “It happened around 5:30pm. The compound is large, so displaced people had built shelters there.”
Efforts are ongoing to gather detailed information about the people slain and injured in the airstrike.
A local man connected to the resistance forces said it was clear the air force had targeted the camp deliberately in the bombing, as there had been no recent battles in the area.
At around noon earlier the same day, the junta air force had also struck the Singu Township General Hospital in northern Mandalay Region. Singu has been under the control of anti-junta armed groups since last July.
The Mandalay Region People’s Defence Force (MDY-PDF) released a statement saying that the airstrike on Singu Township General Hospital had also been unprovoked, as there had been no recent clashes in the vicinity.
“Yesterday’s airstrike hit an unoccupied building, so there were no casualties. However, the buildings were severely damaged. They knew it was a hospital when they conducted the strike,” said Osmond, a MDY-PDF spokesperson.
The junta has been carrying out a relentless campaign of airstrikes for months, apparently hitting schools, monasteries, hospitals, and other civilian targets on purpose. The airstrikes killed dozens of civilians, including children, in January.
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