The junta bombed a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) during airstrikes in Shadaw and Mese townships in the resistance stronghold of Kayah State on Wednesday, killing at least two civilians and sending thousands of refugees across the border into Thailand.
Thousands of residents of Kayah State fled across the border on Wednesday and are taking shelter in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province, the Karenni Human Rights Group said.
The two aerial assaults on civilian targets occurred after midnight, the rights group said.
“A 13-year-old boy was among those killed as a junta warplane dropped three bombs on Kyauk Su village in Mese Township at around 12.30am,” a spokesperson for the rights group said.
One man from Kyauk Su Village was injured and two houses in the village, as well as its church, were destroyed during the airstrike, he said.
A second airstrike targeted a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Shadaw Township near the Thai border at about 1am.
The Karenni Human Rights Group said one man was killed and two women were wounded when a junta jet dropped bombs on Daw Hnoe Ku camp.
Sources said makeshift huts used for classrooms in the camp were damaged by the bombs.
About 4,000 IDPs were taking refuge in Daw Hnoe Ku camp.
Civilian targets in Kayah State—including schools, clinics and IDP camps—are frequently targeted by the junta warplanes.
On July 4, a junta jet fighter bombed a displacement camp in western Demoso Township, injuring three people including a three-year-old.
On June 25, Nant Kit Village in Hpasawng Township was hit by junta airstrikes, killing at least four male civilians, according to aid group Free Burma Rangers.
The Progressive Karenni People Force said that the military junta conducted at least 343 airstrikes between January and June 2023 in Kayah State.
At least 270,000 people have been displaced in Kayah State since the 2021 military coup, according to multiple sources.
