Projectile event in Myingyan Township, Phatpin Ai area, Myanmar on Fri 3rd April 2026

Investigations have revealed that seven locals, including elderly people, were killed and almost the entire village was burned down when the military raided and fired on Phatpin Ai village in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region, three days ago.

On the morning of April 3, a military column of more than 100 soldiers suddenly entered Phet Pin Ai village, a village on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River, about 25 miles north of Myingyan town, off the Myingyan-Simi Khon-Nabu Ai highway.

They then opened fire with heavy and small arms, including drones, and set houses on fire, according to the Myingyan Township Public Action Committee.

A local man told Myanmar Now that the military raid killed three men, aged 78, 60 and 37, and four women, aged 27, 33 and around 60, from Phet Pin Ai village.

“(The army) came in suddenly. They didn’t have time to run. Almost the entire village was destroyed, and the houses were completely destroyed,” said a 40-year-old local man.

Four people were killed in drone strikes. Two of them, a mother and son, were killed by bullets fired by the military as it entered the area.

“A 37-year-old man was carrying his mother, who was injured in a drone strike, when he was hit by another drone bomb. Both mother and son were killed,” said the local man.

He added that the village, which had over 300 houses, was almost completely destroyed by fire, leaving many people injured due to the military's raids and arson.

In addition to the seven locals mentioned above, some comrades from the revolutionary forces based near the village were also killed, but Myanmar Now has not been able to investigate the details of the situation.

Located on the Myinyan-Simikon-Nabu Ai road, Phetpin Ai village has over 300 households and is home to over 1,200 people.

Before the military took power, it was a peaceful village. Located in the temperate, dry climate zone, the village was mainly engaged in agriculture, specializing in growing various legumes, sesame, and sunflower.

Currently, the Myinyan-Simikon-Nabu Ai road is often traversed by local defense forces and the military, and the area around Phetpin Ai village has become an area of ​​special military and security concern.

The military commission has been conducting heavy military operations in recent months in townships such as Myin Chan, Taung Tha, Poppa, Kyauk Pandaung, Nyaung Oo, and Ngan Zun, including areas where elections were not held.

Due to the current military situation, thousands of locals from 15 villages, including Phet Pin Ai village, in Myingyan Township have fled and are in need of clothing, food, shelter, medicine, and financial assistance.

Myingyan District, located in the center of Myanmar, borders Sagaing and Magway Regions, and the areas bordering the border with the Pokhano area, such as Myingyan, Taungtha, and Naw To Gyi, have strong resistance groups.

In Myingyan district, the Pyu Saw Htee, led by Daw Thita Yu Mon, is strong, and there are nine PDF district battalions under the National Unity Government (NUG) and dozens of local defense groups are active.

As a result, clashes between local defense forces and military commission troops in Myingyan District often occur, forcing most locals to flee.

Last March, the military also committed arson and killings in the Poppa area of ​​Mandalay Region, Nyaung U District, Kyauk Padaung Township.

The village of Settat, Kyaukpandaung Township, was attacked twice in March, burning down more than 70 houses on March 2, and the nearby village of Kamphyu was attacked in a similar manner from March 4 to 6, burning down more than 200 houses.

A local resident told Myanmar Now at the time that three elderly women from Kamphyu, who were unable to flee, also died in the fire.

Another local man said that from March 18 to 24, the military also attacked Inpingyi village on the road from Kyaukpadaung Township to Chauk Township in Magway Division, killing five locals. 

The victims were a woman in her 20s and four men, and it is believed that the woman was raped and murdered, while the four men were tortured and killed by cutting off their fingers, he said.

“The people who were killed were unarmed civilians. They were dressed in PDF uniforms and killed. I think the military did it to show the people above that PDFs are here,” he commented.

"We can't see the manner of the killing. They arrested them, examined them themselves, and then killed them. Even if there were witnesses, they would be killed, so no one dared to go and see."

On March 28, the army entered the village of Setthana again, burned down seven houses, and then left in the direction of Poppa, according to local residents. 

Currently, tens of thousands of residents from four townships in Mandalay Region, Myintchan, Kyaukpandaung, Taungtha, and Nyaungtogyi, have fled the military offensive and are in need of emergency assistance.

The military has not released any statement regarding the killings and arson in Myintchan District, but military propagandists are reporting that two PDFs were killed after they stormed a PDF gate in Panpaung Village, Taungtha Township, on April 5.