Mizzima

The junta launched three unprovoked airstrikes on a village in the western part of Hpruso Township, in Karenni State at about 1:00 a.m. on 22 June.

There were no casualties, but six homes and a village school were destroyed and some animals were killed in the attacks.

A local woman from Hpruso said to Mizzima: “Some of my relatives fled in fear from the first airstrike. The junta launched its first attack at around 1:00 a.m. My sister ran to the shelter for safety. Locals from nearby were also running to safe places. We have no idea what will happen next.”

Though there has been fierce fighting in some areas of Karenni State, there had been no fighting since the beginning of this year between junta forces and revolutionary forces in the area of Hpruso Township where the airstrike hit.

A spokesperson from Jobs for Kayah, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that helps IDPs and provides news and information in Karenni State said: “There has been no fighting whatsoever this year in Hpruso Township, but there was a lot of fighting last year. There are many internally displaced people here in Hpruso.”

The last fighting in the western part of Hpruso happened at the end of 2022. Since then there has been no fighting and more than 7,000 people displaced by fighting (IDPs) are sheltering in Hpruso Township.

During May 2023 the Myanmar junta launched 59 airstrikes throughout the country, the most it has so far launched in a single month. Of those, 22 hit Karenni State and the nearby townships of Pinlaung and Pekon, just across the state border in Shan State, according to the Burma Affairs and Conflict Study, a news organisation that collects, compiles and analyses data to write reports on the junta’s political and military actions.