At least five internally displaced persons were killed and 20 were severely injured when the junta’s military launched an airstrike on a monastery in Hpasawng Township, Karenni (Kayah) State on Sunday, residents said.
Kwat Thit monastery in downtown Hpasawng was crowded with IDPs when a junta fighter jet strafed it with machinegun fire.
“The fighter jet fired with a machine gun. Five people died on the spot and 20, including the abbot of Thein Kyaung monastery, were injured,” said a resident.
Combined Karenni resistance forces are currently conducting an offensive against junta military outposts in Hpasawng Township. The junta’s military has responded by launching airstrikes on the town. Many houses have burned down as a result of the airstrikes.
“In the downtown area, the junta’s troops burned down houses and buildings and fighter jets dropped bombs; it is in ruins,” said a resistance fighter on the ground.
In recent days, the combined resistance groups seized a junta military outpost at the Hpasawng Bridge. Since then numerous clashes have broken out between resistance forces and the junta’s Infantry Battalions 134 and 135.
Free Burma Rangers (FBR) said it rescued over 1,000 residents who had been trapped in Hpasawng Town since clashes broke out on Friday. It evacuated them from the town and they are now in safe places, it said.
Also on Friday, a junta airstrike killed a civilian and injured 12 others including a 12-year-old girl. Among those who have fled the town, some have been detained, beaten and tortured by junta troops, FBR said.
This is not the first time residents of Hpasawng have been forced to flee their homes. In June 2023, heavy clashes broke out between combined Karenni resistance groups and the junta’s military, forcing thousands of residents to flee.