Five civilians were killed and eight others were seriously injured in an airstrike by the military council in Kutkai town, northern Shan State. The airstrike occurred at 00:50 hours on July 30, targeting Century 2 Hotel in Ward 2 of Kutkai town. The attack resulted in destruction of the hotel and surrounding residential buildings, claiming the lives of five civilians including an elderly woman and a child, according to local sources.
Kutkai town, which is under the control of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), experienced its first airstrike by the military council this year. A previous airstrike in November last year had killed three civilians. During that incident, bombs were dropped on residential areas between Wards 3 and 4 near a Chinese Baptist church, killing a two-month-old infant, a mother, and an elderly person, while injuring about ten others.
Throughout July, the military council conducted twenty-eight airstrikes across various townships in northern Shan State, including Kyaukme, Mong Ngaw, Naung Cho, Hsipaw, and Mogok. These attacks resulted in fifteen fatalities, including two children and thirteen adults, while forty-eight people sustained injuries. The bombardments also destroyed seventy-six homes, two schools, and two monasteries. The military’s escalating use of airstrikes has caused significant civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure, demonstrating a pattern of indiscriminate attacks on populated areas.
