Myanmar airstrikes target border hospital near China, Killing 10 people

• The strike occurred late Thursday night, with at least two airstrikes carried out on the city, which typically houses around 25,000 people.
• MNDAA spokesman Li Jiawen confirmed the airstrike hit a hospital in Laukkai but had no information on casualties yet.
• Despite the ongoing fighting, neither the junta nor the ethnic alliance has released figures on their casualties.

On Friday, local media reported that Myanmar military airstrikes targeted a hospital in Laukkai city, which is controlled by an ethnic minority armed group near the China border, killing 10 people. A resident, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said military planes carried out at least two airstrikes on the city, which normally houses around 25,000 people, late Thursday night.

Local media quoted a resident as saying that the strike killed 10 civilians. Myanmar’s northern Shan state has experienced intense fighting since late June, when an alliance of ethnic minority armed groups renewed their offensive against the military along a major trade highway to China. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) has controlled Laukkai since January, following the surrender of over 2,000 junta troops in one of the military’s biggest defeats in decades.

MNDAA spokesman Li Jiawen confirmed that a military airstrike hit a hospital in Laukkai but said he had no information on casualties yet. The junta has been approached for comment. In recent weeks, the junta has bombed Laukkai multiple times after the MNDAA resumed its offensive in the northern Shan state, violating a Beijing-brokered ceasefire

Pictures taken on Thursday and shared with AFP by a Laukkai resident showed deserted streets. Recently, MNDAA fighters have entered Lashio, another town in northern Shan state that hosts the military’s northeastern command. A military source, speaking anonymously, reported that fighting was ongoing in Lashio on Friday.

Local media, citing a resident, reported that MNDAA fighters had entered a military hospital in Lashio, killing an unspecified number of patients and medical staff. AFP could not reach people on the ground in Lashio to confirm the report. According to the junta and local rescue groups, dozens of civilians have been killed or wounded in the recent fighting in Shan state. Neither the junta nor the ethnic alliance has released figures on their casualties.

Myanmar’s borderlands are home to numerous ethnic armed groups that have fought the military since the country gained independence from Britain in 1948, seeking autonomy and control of valuable resources. Some groups have provided shelter and training to new “People’s Defense Forces” (PDFs) that emerged to combat the military following the 2021 coup. While China is a major ally and arms supplier to the junta, analysts say it also maintains connections with armed ethnic groups in Myanmar that control territory near its border.

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