Myanmar military junta airstrikes refugee camp in Rakhine state civil war, 12 killed

Witnesses and rescue workers said on the 14th that the Myanmar military launched an air strike on a camp housing people displaced by civil war in the southwestern state of Rakhine, killing 12 people and injuring 18 others.

The air raid occurred on the evening of the 13th local time at the "Byar La IDP camp" in Ponnagyun Town, northeast of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State. The camp was still in a mess on the 14th, with collapsed bamboo huts everywhere; a car was blown to its side and only its skeleton was left, stuck among the messy piles of household items and clothing.

Chit Su Wai, a 27-year-old female shopkeeper, sobbed that her daughter, aunt and mother were all killed in the air raids. She was at a loss for words except crying... "Our family was destroyed like this. There was no one else but my family. We didn't hear the sound of the fighter plane at all - it just suddenly appeared and dropped bombs."

Aung Kyaw Min, a 45-year-old tuk-tuk driver, lost his brother, sister and mother in the air raid. As for his nephew and nephew, including a 10-year-old child, their whereabouts are unknown... "I don't know where to find them."

Myanmar has been plunged into civil war since a military coup five years ago. Pro-democracy activists and ethnic minority factions that have long been entrenched in border areas continue to fight the military government forces. Among them, the western coastal provinces and most of Rakhine State, controlled by the Arakan Army (AA), have been devastated by war and subject to blockades and frequent air raids by the Myanmar military.

The Myanmar military could not be reached for comment on the attack.

Khine Hein Htet, chairman of the "Phyusin Yin Khwin Foundation", an emergency relief and humanitarian charity organization in Rakhine State, confirmed that the air strike on the 13th killed 12 people, including a 5-year-old child, and injured 18 others.

Kanehunter said that many people have lived here for four years and thought it was so safe that most of the victims died in the same place during the attack. This was not a war zone. "We never thought that this camp would be a target."