Airstrikes Hit 10 Kawkareik Township Villages Over New Year
Junta airstrikes hit 10 villages in Karen State’s Kawkareik Township killing at least two villagers and injuring at least a further seven on 16 and 17 April 2025, during the traditional New Year holidays.
On 16 April, the final day of the traditional Myanmar Thingyan Water Festival that celebrates the beginning of the new year from 13 to 16 April, junta airstrikes hit seven villages in Kawakareik Township, Karen State.
On the morning of 16 April airstrikes hit the Kawkareik Township villages of Laytaing, Inngyi and Tharyakone. No casualties were reported, but Aungchanthar Monastery in Laytaing Village, a monastery in Inngyi Village and several homes in Tharyarkone Village were damaged.
At noon on 16 April an airstrike hit Naungtaman Village in Kawkareik Township which is close to the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 546 base in Kyondoe Town, also in Kawkareik Township. Casualty numbers are unknown.
On the afternoon of 16 April airstrikes hit the Kawkareik Township villages of Tharyarkone, Kawtwarle, and Myaukkanmayaik. According to a villager from Myaukkanmayaik, a 30-year-old pregnant woman was killed and five other civilians were also reportedly injured during the airstrike on Myaukkanmayaik.
On 17 April, the first day of the New Year, it is traditional for people in Myanmar to visit temples and pagodas, make donations, and perform good deeds. Despite this, at at around 8:00 am on 17 April, the junta launched airstrikes on the Kawkareik Township villages of Kanni and Thayettaw.
In Thayettaw Village, U Shei, a 50-year-old auto rickshaw driver was killed in the airstrike and two children were wounded by shrapnel.
A resident of Thayettaw Village said: “It was New Year’s Day, so people were getting ready to go to the monastery. Around 8:00 in the morning, a military aircraft suddenly showed up and dropped two big bombs on the village. U Shei, an auto rickshaw driver, was killed, and two children were hit by shrapnel. Then the aircraft flew over to Kanni Village and dropped more bombs there too, causing damage in both villages. After the attack, no one in the village felt safe staying in their homes, so, everyone gathered at the monastery and chapel to take shelter.”
