Mogok Airstrike Kills Three Residents, Injures Ten

The Ta’ang Women’s Organization (TWO) has documented that three civilians were killed and ten others were injured in an airstrike bombing of Lae Oo Ward in eastern Mogok at 11 p.m. last November. The area is controlled by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).

The father of the deceased victim, Ko Kyaw Soe Paing, said, “MDY troops [PDFs] came to the neighborhood. At first, Itried to stop them. But it was only me in the whole neighborhood, so they wouldn’t accept it. There are a lot of informershere. Don’t make the office here. Not long after the office was settled, the plane came. The plane bomb fell near the creek behind the house and shrapnel flew to us. That night, the moon was lit. My son and daughter-in-law were sleeping in oneroom. The rest of the people were sleeping in their own rooms, so the shrapnel of the bomb first penetrated my son’s room. Even though he was sleeping with my daughter-in-law, it hit my son directly.”

“When the explosion happened, I didn’t know anything. I could not hear anything. The air was thick with smoke, and it was dark. The house was also full of broken walls and glass, and I was struggling to get out of there. I called my son.There was no response. Then I heard my daughter-in-law’s voice. She said, ‘Father, there was a lot of blood in the room. I had to pull my daughter-in-law out. ‘He was already lying to her; nothing happened.’ The left hand was cut off. There were also three holes in his chest. I couldn’t even bear to look at him anymore. I couldn’t bear it. I was very sad. That’s why I didn’t have any pictures. The day he died was his birthday, and they had only been married for six months.”

The airstrike killed three men, injured two women and eight men, and damaged 54 houses in the area.