Nine civilians, including seven children, were killed in an airstrike carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on the Bangkok Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Pekon Township, located 100 miles (160 km) south of the Shan State capital of Taunggyi, on Thursday.
Resistance groups and the Karenni Interim Executive Council (IEC) told DVB that the military deliberately targeted civilians with two 500-pound bombs. “One landed on the far side of the IDP camp, while the other exploded directly on [a] home,” said a member of the resistance in Pekon Township. “It was a deliberate attack aimed at killing civilians,” said Banyar Khun Aung, the IEC second secretary.
Around 20 makeshift homes in the IDP camp, home to around 1,000 IDPs, were destroyed. Three civilians were killed during an airstrike in Nanmaekhon town, located in Demoso Township of Karenni State, on Sept. 5. Regime leader Min Aung Hlaing visited the state capital Loikaw, which is located 21 miles (33 km) south of Pekon, on Sept. 4.
The military launched a counteroffensive in Demoso last month against resistance groups led by the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), which has been active in southern Shan and Karenni states since the uprising to the 2021 military coup began.
A total of 27 civilians, including 11 people in Namkham of northern Shan State, have been killed and 26 others have been injured by a total of 12 airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Air Force since Sept. 1. Most of the military’s airstrikes have targeted towns and territory seized by resistance groups, including the Brotherhood Alliance, in Shan State.
