Four civilians were killed and more than 10 injured when Myanmar’s regime bombed the central market in Kutkai town in northern Shan State controlled by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army on Monday.
Around 100 shops were damaged and destroyed, said residents.
A resident told The Irrawaddy on Monday: “A jet fighter bombed several times. Some motorcyclists on the Union Highway were killed. The planes targeted a public place.”
Those injured were taken to the public hospital and the TNLA’s fire department and residents were still putting out fires on Monday evening, he added.
Serious casualties were avoided because the TNLA closed the market and told residents to stay at home after a junta Y-12 reconnaissance plane flew over the town for nearly an hour before the airstrike.
People were killed outside a construction office where allied Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) troops were deployed near the market. It was hit by three bombs, according to witnesses.
The airstrike on Kutkai followed the junta’s loss of Lashio and its Northeastern Command since fighting resumed in northern Shan State in late June.
Seven civilians were killed and at least 17 injured when the regime bombed the central market in Hseni bordering Lashio on July 18.
The regime has carried out five bombing raids on Laukkai, where the MNDAA is based, since fighting resumed, inflicting civilian casualties.
Hla Swe, the chairman of the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party, and other junta supporters have been using social media to incite the regime to bomb towns controlled by anti-regime groups.
