Myanmar’s military council carried out 367 fighter jet bombings over Loikaw, the capital of Karenni (Kayah) State, in 20 days since the start of Operation 1111, according to statistics released by the Karenni Army (KA).
“We expect immense destruction in Loikaw,” KA Commander-in-Chief Col. Bone Naing of the KNDF said of the bombing.
The military regime is currently bombing the Karenni capital Loikaw on a daily basis. Since the start of Operation 1111 on 11 November until 5 December, a period of 25 days, hundreds of houses in Loikaw have been destroyed by air and heavy artillery attacks by the regime, according to a spokesperson of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF)
“It’s hard to estimate. Hundreds of houses have been destroyed by the airstrikes. So it’s hard to estimate. The most affected neighborhoods seem to be those near Loikaw University,” he said.
Since the military is no longer able to conduct a ground assault in Loikaw, it is desperately trying to capture the city through heavy shelling with fighter jets and heavy artillery, he added.
The military council has now started targeting civilian areas, resulting in civilian casualties and the destruction of homes and buildings, according to sources on the ground.
“A bomb landed right next to our house. I don’t know if the house is completely destroyed or still partially standing, as we fled and couldn’t check. But they shelled us heavily. They fired huge bombs from airplanes. There is nothing we can do to defend ourselves. Everything is lost. If one person was hit, not a single piece of flesh would be left,” said a resident of Loikaw.
From 11to 27 November, 34 men, 18 women and 12 children were killed in Loikaw, plus ten unidentified bodies and two deaths from religious organizations, making a total of 76 dead, according to a statement issued by the Karenni Humanitarian Aid Initiative (KHAI) on 28 November.
According to KHAI, 24 of the 76 dead were killed by air strikes.
Currently, 80 percent of Loikaw’s residents have fled the city. More than 300,000 people from the Pekon and Moebye Townships on the border between Karenni and Shan have been displaced, according to estimates by the Karenni State Interim Executive Council (IEC).
Sent by Kantarawaddy Times