Initial reports indicate that on the evening of September 24, at around 7:40 PM, the military council’s air force carried out two bombing raids using a fighter jet over TanHlwe Ywa Ma and Kyauk Seik villages in Taungup Township. As a result, two locals were killed, and at least three others were severely injured.
A resident of the Taungup area said, “A bomb dropped on the police station of Ywa Ma village. Another bomb dropped on Kyauk Seik village, which is on the opposite side of Ywa Ma village. A child and an adult died, and at least three others were injured. Many buildings were also severely damaged.”
Locals said that the military junta has currently cut off phone lines and internet connections around Ywa Ma village and Kyauk Seik village.
TanHlwe Ywa Ma village, which has been hit by a bombing, is located about 14 miles from Taungkup. It has been reported that the military council has been carrying out electricity outages in that village for the past few days.
A local resident of Taungup speculated that the military council conducted airstrikes due to heightened tensions between the Arakan Army’s (AA) territorial administrator and the military council’s troops, which were exacerbated by electricity outages.
He said, “There hasn’t been any fighting. The military council has been cutting off electricity to TanHlwe Ywa Ma village for about three days. What I think is that the territorial administrator of the AA has collected the electricity fees and used them, and when the military council members went to request them, he refused. That’s why there was a problem between this territorial administrator and the military council members. That’s why it could be an airstrike by the military council.”
In Taungup, there has been ongoing tension between the military council and the Arakan Army (AA), with both sides being involved in conflict for a long time and the military council has frequently carried out airstrikes targeting areas where local civilians live.
The locals report that the frequent airstrikes have caused civilian casualties, leading to deaths.
Translated by Nga Lar Guage
