{"id":6088,"date":"2025-05-15T00:48:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T18:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/?p=6088"},"modified":"2025-05-15T00:48:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T18:18:25","slug":"daily-airstrikes-and-civilian-deaths-continue-across-myanmar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/2025\/05\/daily-airstrikes-and-civilian-deaths-continue-across-myanmar\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily Airstrikes and Civilian Deaths Continue Across Myanmar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-4-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6089\" src=\"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-4-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"572\" srcset=\"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-4-1.png 960w, https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-4-1-300x179.png 300w, https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-4-1-768x458.png 768w, https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-4-1-560x334.png 560w, https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-4-1-260x155.png 260w, https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-4-1-160x95.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Myanmar Spring Chronicle \u2013 May 13 Overview&#8221;<\/strong>,<\/p>\n<p>published by <em>MoeMaKa on May 14, 2025<\/em>*:<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Daily Airstrikes and Civilian Deaths Continue Across Myanmar<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>On <strong>May 12<\/strong>, the military junta conducted an <strong>airstrike on a village school<\/strong> in <strong>Depayin Township<\/strong>, Sagaing Region, killing over <strong>20 schoolchildren and 2 teachers<\/strong>, and injuring more than <strong>40 students<\/strong>. Just a day later, on <strong>May 13<\/strong>, another airstrike in <strong>Rathedaung Township, Rakhine State<\/strong>, destroyed six homes and killed <strong>13 civilians<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>These near-daily airstrikes are not part of effective military offensives to regain territory but rather appear to be <strong>retaliatory attacks<\/strong> targeting areas under the control of <strong>People\u2019s Defense Forces (PDFs)<\/strong> and <strong>ethnic armed groups<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Patterns of Targeting Civilian Structures<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>While some airstrikes are aimed at confirmed resistance gatherings, <strong>many others hit schools, monasteries, and civilian homes<\/strong>. Notably, this latest strike in Oe Htein Twin village and another in Rathedaung were not linked to military bases or resistance activity.<\/p>\n<p>Similar to past attacks such as the <strong>Let Yet Kone school bombing<\/strong> in 2022 or the strike on a <strong>Kachin cultural concert in Hpakant<\/strong>, the military appears to be <strong>indiscriminately targeting civilian zones<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Airstrikes as a Strategy of Fear<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>As the military continues to lose ground in rural areas and cannot conduct successful ground offensives, it increasingly relies on <strong>air power<\/strong> to inflict fear and disruption.<\/p>\n<p>The goal appears to be not military victory, but to <strong>terrorize the civilian population<\/strong> and destroy community infrastructure in territories it no longer controls.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Preparing for Protection and Survival<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Since civilians <strong>cannot defend against airstrikes<\/strong>, the key question becomes:<br \/><strong>How can they minimize casualties?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To reduce civilian harm, communities must:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>Construct <strong>bomb shelters<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Develop <strong>early warning systems<\/strong> for schools and villages<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Practice <strong>evacuation drills<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some resistance groups have tried cutting off <strong>communications<\/strong> to prevent airstrike targeting via phone or internet. But this has also hurt civilians by blocking <strong>remittance transfers and aid communication<\/strong>, worsening their hardship.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Limitations of Anti-Aircraft Action<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Resistance campaigns to <strong>cut off jet fuel supplies<\/strong> have so far <strong>failed<\/strong>. Strikes on airbases are extremely difficult because these are located in heavily fortified cities like <strong>Yangon, Mandalay, Naypyidaw, Taungoo, Magway, and Myitkyina<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Without the capability to neutralize airbases, the best defense remains <strong>minimizing harm on the ground<\/strong>\u2014through early warnings and shelters.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Local Defense Tactics Emerging<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In some areas, communities now:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>Watch for incoming jets<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Relay alerts to nearby villages<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Evacuate to bunkers when necessary<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These early-warning and evacuation systems have helped <strong>reduce casualties<\/strong>, but they require <strong>better coordination and resources<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Challenges in Building Civilian Defenses<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Bomb shelters are expensive and time-consuming to build\u2014especially during an economic collapse. Few families can afford to construct their own.<\/p>\n<p>Still, these defensive measures are now <strong>more vital than ever<\/strong>, especially as the junta <strong>intensifies its reliance on airstrikes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>The Bigger Picture<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Myanmar is not alone. Just like in <strong>Gaza<\/strong>, where thousands of children have been killed in air raids, Myanmar\u2019s children are now dying under the bombs of a junta backed by <strong>foreign military aid<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Just as <strong>Western countries support Israel<\/strong>, <strong>Russia and China continue to arm the Myanmar military<\/strong>, making the suffering of civilians in places like Depayin and Rathedaung possible.<\/p>\n<p>In such a world, where <strong>civilian lives are expendable<\/strong> and <strong>international outrage is selective<\/strong>, Myanmar\u2019s people must organize, adapt, and protect themselves\u2014because <strong>help may not come from outside<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Myanmar Spring Chronicle \u2013 May 13 Overview&#8221;, published by MoeMaKa on May 14, 2025*: Daily Airstrikes and Civilian Deaths Continue Across Myanmar On May 12, the military junta conducted an airstrike on a village school in Depayin Township, Sagaing Region,&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/2025\/05\/daily-airstrikes-and-civilian-deaths-continue-across-myanmar\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,58],"tags":[100],"class_list":["post-6088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current","category-features","tag-myanmar-spring-revolution"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-4-1.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3RDLm-1Ac","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6088"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6090,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6088\/revisions\/6090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}