The Myanmar regime carried out 409 attacks on Arakan Army-controlled townships in Rakhine State during its own 20-day quake ceasefire from April 2 to 22, according to the Humanitarian and Development Coordination Office (HDCO) of the United League of Arakan (ULA).
The Arakan Army (AA) is the armed wing of the ULA.
The regime used fighter jets, drones, paramotors, naval boats and artillery to bomb civilians and resistance targets in AA-held Taungup, Kyauktaw and Pauktaw townships, as well as in Kyaukphyu and Sittwe, two cities that are encircled by AA troops.
A civilian was killed in the junta attacks and 28 others including five children suffered injuries, the HDCO said. The junta bombardments destroyed at least 25 civilian buildings including a religious structure.
The HDCO condemned the junta’s attacks as a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.
In the early hours of April 19, three junta fighter jets from an airbase in Magwe launched an airstrike on AA-controlled Kyauktaw town, according to the HDCO.
The aircraft reportedly targeted residential wards with rocket bombs, cluster munitions and a 500-pound bomb. One civilian was killed and 20 injured in the attack.
Rakhine media reported that the junta’s Danyawaddy naval base sent three makeshift suicide drones to bomb Yay Nan Taung Village in Kyaukphyu Township on Thursday, killing a 26-year-old woman and injuring two others.
The attacks came after the junta extended its quake ceasefire until April 30 starting from Wednesday.
The AA has seized 14 of Rakhine State’s 17 townships as well as Paletwa Township in neighboring Chin State in western Myanmar.
Alongside local resistance groups, the AA has recently extended its operations in Chin State and Magwe, Bago and Ayeyarwady regions, taking control of more areas.
Some days after the National Unity Government’s armed wing, the People’s Defense Force, and some ethnic armed organizations announced unilateral ceasefires to allow for the mourning of earthquake victims and for rescue operations, the junta declared a 20-day quake truce from April 2 to 22.
Beyond Rakhine State, since the declaration of the truce, the regime has carried out around 150 airstrikes and artillery attacks, mostly on civilian targets in 11 other of Myanmar’s 15 regions and states, including earthquake-hit areas.
Those assaults have killed over 80 people and injured more than 120.
