Independent report
PONNAGYUN, Myanmar: A Myanmar military airstrike on a camp housing people displaced by the country’s ongoing civil war killed 12 people, including a five-year-old child, and injured 18 others in western Rakhine State, witnesses and rescue workers said on Saturday.
The attack took place on Friday evening at the Byar La internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Ponnagyun township, northeast of the state capital, Sittwe.
Chit Su Wai, a 27-year-old shopkeeper, broke down in tears while describing how she lost her daughter, aunt and mother in the bombing.
“All I saw was their bodies scattered in pain. I could not find words to describe it. And we were lost with crying,” she said.
She said the attack had devastated her family and that residents had received no warning before the bombs struck.
“It has broken our family. There were no others except my family. We did not hear the sound of the fighter jet — it just came and dropped the bombs,” she added.
The death toll of 12 was confirmed by Khine Hein Htet, chairman of the Phyusin Yin Khwin Foundation, a rescue and emergency service. He said 18 people were also injured, while a five-year-old child was among those killed.
Many residents of the camp had been living there for approximately four years after being displaced by the conflict.
According to Khine Hein Htet, displaced families had considered the camp a safe place and gathered there for shelter.
“They believed the camp was safe, and they sheltered there together. When we arrived at the scene, most of the victims had died in one place,” he said.
He added that the area was not an active combat zone and that rescuers had not expected the camp to be targeted.
It was not possible to contact Myanmar’s military authorities for comment on the latest airstrike.
Destruction and families searching for missing relatives
The aftermath of the bombing left the village in ruins, with collapsed bamboo houses, damaged shelters and an overturned vehicle scattered among household belongings, clothes and other debris.
By Saturday, local residents had removed the bodies from the destroyed shelters. Some victims were wrapped in yellow and red plastic before being buried in makeshift graves.
Aung Kyaw Min, a 45-year-old tuk-tuk driver, said he rushed to the village after hearing that his brother and sister might have been caught in the attack.
He found his sister and brother dead. His sister’s body had been severely mutilated, while his brother was also killed in the bombing.
The following day, he discovered that his mother had also died. Several other family members, including a 10-year-old child, were still missing.
His sister had worked as a seamstress and cared for their mother, while his brother was also a tuk-tuk driver.
“Now all of them — my sister, brother, including my mother — were all killed. My niece and nephews are still missing, I don’t know where to find them,” he said.
The latest attack has renewed concerns about the safety of civilians who have fled their homes to escape the fighting but continue to face danger in displacement camps.
Myanmar’s continuing civil conflict
Myanmar has been engulfed in civil war since the military seized power in a coup in 2021, triggering widespread armed resistance by pro-democracy activists and ethnic minority armed groups.
Rakhine State, along the country’s western coast, has been among the regions most severely affected by the conflict.
The Arakan Army, an ethnic minority armed organisation, controls almost the entire state, while the military has imposed a blockade and continued conducting airstrikes in the region.
The conflict has caused widespread displacement, destruction of civilian infrastructure and mounting humanitarian difficulties for communities across the country.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) monitoring organisation estimates that more than 100,000 people from all sides have been killed since the civil war began.
The latest bombing underscores the continuing vulnerability of displaced families, particularly women and children, who have sought refuge in camps after being forced to leave their homes because of the conflict.
