5 killed in airstrikes, 2 shot dead by junta forces

At least seven people were killed, including three in Paletwa and two in Mrauk-U due to junta forces' airstrikes and two shot dead by the soldiers in Sittwe township, on 15 January.

At around 5 pm on Monday, the junta forces carried out airstrikes on Myaung Bway village under Mrauk-U township resulting in the death of two villagers and injuries to three others including a pregnant woman.

The victims have been identified as U Aye Kyaw (55 years old) and U Zaw Min Aung (45), who hailed from Myaung Bway village.

The bullets discharged from the warplane hit both the villagers. They sustained injuries on their heads, abdomens, thighs etc and finally succumbed to injuries.

The pregnant woman from the same village sustained injury to her abdomen by a bullet. The other two injured individuals are U Sein Gyi and U Soe.

In Paletwa locality at around 2:30 pm on Monday, the airstrikes by junta forces led to an explosion near Kyee Lay village. It resulted in the death of three local men, including a 5-year-old internally displaced  child, all of whom were hit by the bomb shrapnel.

Moreover, one man and two women were struck by the bomb shrapnel, which injured them seriously.

Three Brotherhood Alliance stated on 15 January that in addition to an arson attack by the soldiers on Taw Kan village under Sittwe township, the capital of Rakhine State, two elderly individuals were shot dead.

According to the statement,  the victims were an elderly man, paralyzed by a stroke, and a woman in her  70s. Both of them were mercilessly shot dead.

Around 50 junta soldiers, committing war crimes and targeting civilians, launched an arson attack on Taw Kan village at 9 am on 15 January that destroyed 80 houses.

From 13 November  2023 till 15 January 2024, over 100 people were reportedly killed in Rakhine State and Paletwa locality as a result of airstrikes and artillery shell attacks by the junta forces.