Resistance Fighters Target Homes of Myanmar Junta Pilots After Airstrikes on Civilians

By The Irrawaddy 9 February 2022

Yangon resistance groups are targeting the homes of junta pilots responsible for air raids that have killed dozens of civilians and displaced tens of thousands more.

A list detailing the names and addresses of 45 air force officers allegedly involved in Myanmar military airstrikes went viral on social media last month.

Scores of civilians have been killed in regime air raids targeting People’s Defense Force (PDF) groups and ethnic armed organizations in Sagaing Region, Kayah, Karen and Chin states especially. Villages and homes have also been destroyed in the airstrikes, displacing tens of thousands of people nationwide.

Urban guerilla fighters have been attacking the houses of pilots involved in those attacks, using the personal information and addresses leaked on social media, according to Yangon resistance groups.

“Yes, it is true that [resistance fighters] are attacking the houses of air force officers. But we still don’t know details about the damage caused,” a spokesperson for a Yangon armed resistance group told The Irrawaddy.

On Monday, the house of air force Captain Pyae Phyo Kyaw in Yangon’s South Dagon Township was attacked with grenades. There were at least four other grenade attacks on the Yangon houses of air force officers as senior as colonel over the past week, he added.

Last week, on February 3, an explosion occurred near the house of Colonel Aung Myo Kyaw, the acting chief of Yangon’s Mingaladon Air Base, in North Okkalapa Township. After the attack, security was tightened in the ward with increased patrols and houses inspected for overnight guests, said ward residents.

Some air force officers have been secretly moving home due to the attacks, local residents claimed.

In one attack targeting the house of an air force officer in Yangon’s Yankin Township on January 31, the house of his neighbor was mistakenly attacked. The owner wrote on his Facebook that he was abroad at the time and that there was no damage to his house.

The Irrawaddy recorded more than 100 junta airstrikes involving helicopter gunships and jet fighters in eight regions and states including Kachin, Shan, Chin, Kayah and Karen states and Bago, Sagaing and Magwe regions from late March to December 20 last year.

The regime also bombed an internally displaced persons’ camp in Hpruso, Kayah State last month.

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