At least 20 people have been killed and dozens injured in Myanmar following two days of airstrikes carried out by the military junta in northern Shan State and Mandalay Region.

On Saturday (January 26), a junta warplane targeted a district hospital operated by the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in Kyaukme, northern Shan State, dropping two bombs on the facility. The attack claimed the lives of three people, including two female health workers who had joined the civil disobedience movement against the military regime following the 2021 coup.

Over 20 patients receiving treatment at the hospital suffered severe injuries. One male patient succumbed to his wounds during evacuation. According to a survivor speaking to The Irrawaddy, ‘The bombs hit the back of a room where we were meeting. My two female colleagues died instantly. I nearly got trapped under the rubble. Many others were badly injured, with fractures and other serious wounds.’ Nearly all hospital buildings were destroyed, fueling suspicions that the hospital was deliberately targeted.
The TNLA had seized control of Kyaukme in August 2022 as part of the Brotherhood Alliance’s ‘Operation 1027,’ which sought to challenge junta forces across northern Myanmar.

The violence escalated on Sunday when the military launched bombing and strafing operations in Singup village, Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region. Around 7:30 am local time, Mi-35 gunships strafed near a school while a junta jet dropped two bombs, killing 16 people on the spot. An additional victim died later from injuries sustained in the attack.
The casualties included a visiting family of four—a couple, their four-year-old child, and an infant. “They’ve been buried,” a resident reported.

The attacks have drawn condemnation from local and international rights groups, with calls for accountability for the junta's actions, which continue to inflict devastating consequences on civilian populations amid the ongoing conflict in Myanmar.
 

BOB Post