At least eight civilians were killed and 13 others were injured during airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on two separate internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township on Oct. 4-5.
The Arakan Army (AA) and the Ponnagyun Youth Association confirmed that on Monday an airstrike killed two civilians and injured two others at an IDP camp in Ponnagyun Township after six civilians were killed and 11 others were injured at a separate IDP camp on Sunday.
Kyaw Win Tun, a spokesperson for the Ponnagyun Youth Association, confirmed that both targeted locations housed IDPs and not members of the AA.
Regime officials declined to comment on the specific attacks, standard state responses maintain that military operations “exercise maximum restraint to avoid civilian harm”.
Located 20 miles (32 km) north of the state capital Sittwe, Ponnagyun has been under AA control since it was seized on March 4, 2024.
The escalating airstrikes follow the apparent stalling of the regime’s “Operation 4926” counteroffensive, launched on Sept. 4 to reclaim territory surrounding Sittwe.
Independent monitoring indicates that airstrikes across Arakan have claimed more than 70 civilian lives over the past week alone.
