Airstrikes on Thandwe’s Sin Gaung village kill 100 civilians?

Lu Htet Naing, Narinjara News, 7 June 2024

Nearly 100 residents may have been killed due to airstrikes conducted by the junta forces on Sin Gaung village under Thandwe township of Arakan State, said a person who personally visited the village. 64 out of the victims were already buried, added the person.

"Many residents of Maw Phyar section of the village died. Many houses were also damaged and in some cases the window  glasses were broken. I refrained from taking photographs due to the presence of women in that area. As the navy personnel were firing artillery shells, I had to return early," said the person, who visited the village this morning.

The fishing huts, fish & shrimp depots in Maw Phyar section were all destroyed. Even many houses were burglarized, farms & huts were demolished, he added.

 "We couldn't take any clothes and had to flee to nearby villages by boat, car and motorcycles.  When we arrived at the exit point of the village, we heard the loud sound of a bomb explosion. We are yet to return to our village and do not know about the fate of chickens, pigs, etc,” said a fleeing village woman.

She also confirmed that nearly 100 villagers including a lady school teacher died in the village.

The junta soldiers launched relentless attacks on Sin Gaung village on 4 and 5 June. They used jet fighters, Y-12 aircrafts, warships and howitzers in the operation. Now they are conducting airstrikes and artillery shelling over the surrounding villages.

Sin Gaung village  supports over 1,000 families with a population of over 7,000. It’s situated approximately 3.5 miles away from Gawt ward of Ngapali beach town, where the intense fighting erupted on 2 and 3 June.

Narinjara News has been unable to confirm the exact number of casualties and continues its investigation over the matter.