Air Delivered event in Painkyone Township area, Myanmar on Sat 31st October 2026

Mizzima. The military junta carried out airstrikes on October 31 within two brigade areas of the Karen National Union (KNU).

The targets were a village located within the area of Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Battalion 19 in Painkyone Township, Hpa-an District, within KNU Brigade 7 territory, and the Thaw Lay Hta area on the bank of the Salween River in Papun District, KNU Brigade 5, along the Thailand-Myanmar border. The attacks were carried out by fighter jets.

The village in the KNLA Battalion 19 area was attacked at around 10:30 a.m. by two fighter jets that dropped four bombs. Likewise, Thaw Lay Hta Port, on the bank of the Salween River in Brigade 5 territory, was bombed at around 7:00 p.m.

According to confirmations from sources, there had been no fighting, and the attacks deliberately targeted civilian locations and trade ports. No casualties or damage were reported during the attacks.

A Brigade 7 source said: "They circled and bombed twice. There were two fighter jets, with one bomb dropped each time. There was no damage."

Similarly, a Myanmar national residing at Mae Sa Lot Port on the Thai side, separated from the Thaw Lay Hta area only by the Salween River, said:

"The windows of my house shattered. The ground shook as well. They attacked the hill near the port on the opposite bank. There were two bombs."

According to sources, the military junta has been increasingly carrying out frequent aerial attacks targeting civilians living in KNU-controlled areas.

According to the Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN), the junta has increasingly relied on airstrikes as a strategic tool to prevent revolutionary forces from strengthening their territorial control, to regain and secure military supply and border routes, and to reinforce its remaining military bases.

At around noon on October 30, within KNU Brigade 4's Myeik-Dawei District, a K-8W fighter jet that took off from Myeik Air Base dropped two 250-pound bombs and two 300-pound bombs on Thanyaw Si (Kanyin Chaung) Village in Thayetchaung Township. According to a KNU statement, four people, including a 10-year-old child, were killed and three others were injured.

Likewise, in Brigade 5 and Brigade 1 areas, military junta airstrikes have frequently caused civilian deaths and injuries. Civilians have also been unable to carry out agricultural work, which is the primary livelihood in the region, and have had to abandon their property and flee to safer locations.

During the three-month period from July to September 2026, the military junta carried out a total of 1,771 airstrikes and artillery attacks within KNU brigade areas. As a result of those attacks, 29 civilians, including children under the age of 18, were killed and 72 others were injured, while schools, religious buildings, and other structures were damaged.