The Myanmar military reportedly dropped four bombs in eastern Loikaw Township, Karenni (Kayah) State, at 2 am on 16 April, the last day of this year’s Thingyan. Three of the bombs landed and exploded near IDP camps, but no one was injured.
“They came and bombed around 2 am. I heard that they dropped four bombs. One of them didn’t explode. There was no fighting [at the time of the bombing]. There are many IDP shelters in the area,” said an IDP camp official.
In addition, regime forces fired artillery at about 10:30 am on 15 April, injuring a man and his daughter, he continued.
He claimed that the junta shelled the IDP camp with some kind of improved conventional dual-purpose ammunition.
“His daughter is in critical condition. The father was hit in the thigh. The daughter was hit in the arm and abdomen. The shell hit near them while they were riding a motorcycle near the shelter,” said the person in charge of the camp.
The injured in the junta shelling are a 53-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl.
The Myanmar junta’s artillery shelling in eastern Loikaw came after the Thingyan celebration of the state government office came under fire on 15 April, said Khu Nye Reh, home minister of the Karenni State government.
“I think they did it because their Thingyan pandal was attacked yesterday. They bombed the area overnight because they assumed the attackers would shelter here. They bombed three or four places, but no one was injured,” Khu Nye Reh said.
In eastern Loikawa, internally displaced people continue to be displaced in the forests, although there is no fighting in the area.
Continued shelling by the junta in the area all the way to the IDP camps is making it difficult for them to return to work on their farms, according to the IDPs.
Sent by Kantarawaddy Times.