Myanmar junta strike kills 15 civilians: Rebels

A Myanmar junta air strike killed at least 15 civilians and wounded 10 others at a market in a gold-mining area in northern Kachin state, a spokesman for an ethnic rebel group that controls the area said on Sunday.

The junta has been accused of carrying out multiple attacks on civilian targets as it struggles to quell resistance to its 2021 coup.

The latest attack happened around 11:00am on Saturday, Colonel Naw Bu, a spokesperson from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), said.

“All those killed were civilians including gold miners and local shopkeepers,” he said.

The KIA, which can call on around 7,000 fighters, has been battling the military for decades for autonomy and control of local resources in Kachin state.

The state is home to huge jade mines and rare heavy earth elements, most of which are exported to China.

Naw Bu said the attack took place in a mining area in Tanaing Township, in the western part of the state.

Images from local media showed a large crater in the middle of an area completely flattened and strewn with debris.

A resident from the town who declined to be named said three of the 10 wounded had since died.

The KIA controls swathes of Christian-majority Kachin state -- home to the world’s largest jade mines.

The region has seen heavy fighting in the wake of the 2021 putsch, with the junta accusing the KIA of arming and training the newer People’s Defence Forces that have sprung up to battle the junta.

Separately, the Arakan Army reported that the junta had dropped 15 bombs during three attacks on Saturday on a public market in the town of Kyauktaw in Arakan State.

It said some civilians had died and others were wounded, but did not specify how many.

The Arakan Army is engaged in a fierce fight with the military for control of Rakhine.

The junta could not be reached for comment.

The United Nations (UN) said, dozens of people were killed in an air strike by Myanmar’s military government in the western state of Rakhine this week.

A spokesperson for the military did not answer phone calls seeking comment.

The UN statement urged all parties to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law. The Blood Money Campaign, a coalition of Myanmar activists working to cut off revenue to the junta, urged international governments to swiftly sanction entities supplying it with aviation fuel.

Agencies