By Hlaing / MPA
Nearly 30 civilians were killed in a series of airstrikes carried out by Myanmar’s military junta in Kachin State over the past week, according to local sources.
Between Jan. 8 and 13, 2025, Myanmar’s military junta conducted a series of aerial bombings using fighter jets in Danai and Hpakant townships of Kachin State. These attacks claimed the lives of approximately 30 civilians, including children, and injured at least 11 others, according to local sources.
A resident of Hpakant reported that fighter jets from the junta’s Tada-U Air Base bombed the villages of San Hkar and Ma Sut Yang in the Long Hkin village tract of Hpakant Township on Monday at around 10:30 a.m. Despite no active clashes in the area, the airstrikes killed around 10 civilians.
“Jade mine workers were among the victims—some were killed, and others injured,” the Hpakant resident told MPA. “They specifically targeted crowded places like Manaung Field, where people gather. There haven’t been any clashes in the area for quite some time.”
On Jan.8, 2025, the junta conducted an airstrike on Kan Hsee village in Hpakant Township, within the territory controlled by the Kachin Independence Army’s (KIA) No. 6 Battalion under No. 9 Brigade. The attack, in an area with no ongoing clashes, killed a female civilian. Another airstrike was reported in the same township on Sunday.
In the early hours of Monday, at around 2:30 a.m., the junta dropped three bombs in Hpakant Township, causing significant damage to several residential homes, according to reports by The Kachin Net news agency.
A Kachin People’s Defense Force (KPDF) soldier explained, “They bombed No. 6 Battalion and No. 9 Brigade. However, in civilian areas, they targeted only three to four locations.”
On Saturday, fighter jets from Tada-U Air Base bombed Lapukha and Sanlun gold mining sites in Danai Township, again in areas with no active clashes. Local sources reported at least 15 civilians were killed, 10 others injured, and nine shops destroyed in the strikes.
The restricted phone and internet access across Kachin State since July 21, 2024, has made it increasingly difficult to gather detailed reports from the ground, according to MPA.
Observers note that the military junta frequently resorts to indiscriminate airstrikes in areas without active conflict, often targeting key battalions and strategic positions lost to opposition forces.
“When the military suffers losses on the battlefield, they bomb civilian areas. This has been a long-standing tactic,” a local resistance fighter stated.
“As civilians, we must always be prepared and vigilant.”
The junta has previously targeted civilians in airstrikes. On Oct.9, 2023, an attack near the Mung Lai Hkyet IDP camp close to Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), killed 29 civilians, including a two-year-old child, and injured over 60 people.
Such attacks underscore the junta’s ongoing strategy of targeting civilian areas in its military campaign, leading to devastating human and material losses in Kachin State.
