Six civilians including children were killed when Myanmar regime forces conducted indiscriminate air and artillery strikes while raiding a village in Madaya Township, Mandalay Region, on Saturday morning.
Over 100 junta soldiers and allied Pyu Saw Htee militiamen attacked Thone-sel-pay, a village by the Irrawaddy River, 16 kilometers northwest of Mandalay city, resulting in clashes with People’s Defense Force (PDF) groups.
Junta troops attempted to advance with artillery support before bringing in two fighter jets, according to a member of Madaya Township People’s Defense Team.
“They approached the village around 2 am on September 21. The fighting broke out around 6 am. They attacked with 40 mm grenade launchers and submachine guns, supported by artillery from their bases as they attempted to advance. They brought in air support after suffering heavy casualties, so we withdrew,” he said.
The barrage killed six women and children in nearby Sulegon village, while leaving the anti-regime groups unscathed.
The artillery strikes killed a mother and her eight-year-old daughter and infant son, an elderly woman and her grandson, and a five-year-old boy. Three others, including two children aged six and eight, were wounded.
Junta troops then looted Thone-sel-pay village and torched houses, destroying almost all the homes in the village, according to Yaung Ni Nway Oo and the Wetlet Informational Network, anti-regime groups covering clashes in the area.
Pro-junta Telegram channels claimed that junta troops overran a PDF base in Thone-sel-pay, and that PDFs torched the village.
A local source dismissed that claim.
“Though Thone-sel-pay is in Madaya Township, it is closer to Mandalay city. Junta troops have been forced to withdraw from many of their positions in Madaya Township, so they want to secure their bases close to Mandalay. Civilians were killed when artillery shells fired from Shwe Chaung village landed in Sulegon village. And it was junta troops that torched Thone-sel-pay village,” the source said.
Junta forces in the area have been reinforced by around 300 troops who have been raiding villages along the Irrawaddy River and torching houses, according to sources.
