Family killed in Irrawaddy Region airstrike as flooding overwhelms displaced communities

A father and son were killed inside their family home in Lemyethna Township’s Pantawgyi village in Ayeyarwady Region, after it was destroyed by an airstrike carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on Saturday. “The attack happened early in the morning,” a Pantawgyi resident told DVB. Another three homes were also destroyed. Pantawgyi village is under the control of resistance forces, according to residents. Lemyethna Township has been severely affected by flooding since the Ngawun Dam collapsed on July 30. At least 88 civilians have been killed and 157 others have been injured by 239 regime airstrikes from Aug. 8-23 across Sagaing, Magway, Mandalay, Tanintharyi and Bago regions, as well as Arakan, Shan, Karen, Chin, Mon, and Kachin states, according to the civilian-led National Unity Government (NUG). The airstrikes on Ayeyarwady’s Laymyethna came as communities in several parts of the country were also grappling over the weekend with severe flooding, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of residents and increased humanitarian needs nationwide. Flooding has been reported in other parts of the country, including in Shan State and Tanintharyi Region, where more than 2,000 residents have been forced to evacuate amid flooding since early August. Residents of Tanintharyi Township told DVB that those affected urgently need supplies including medicine, clean drinking water and food. “Medicine is the most needed, of course. People have body aches, runny noses and coughs because it has been raining continuously,” a Tanintharyi resident told DVB. “The water has become dirty, and people are experiencing [health] problems.” Residents living in low-lying areas of Tanintharyi town have been evacuated to temporary shelters set up at local monasteries, located on higher ground. The latest reports of flooding comes as communities across several parts of Myanmar continue to face heavy seasonal rains, with residents reporting an urgent need for food, medicine, and other emergency humanitarian assistance. On Aug. 8, regime leader Min Aung Hlaing announced that more than 23 billion Myanmar kyats ($5.3 million USD) had been allocated for flood relief efforts. The regime’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology forecast widespread rain across much of Myanmar over the next two days, with heavy rainfall possible in some areas, and warned of strong winds, thunderstorms and rough seas along the coast.