By Nway / MPA
HPAKANT, Kachin State — A Myanmar military airstrike on a jade mining site in Hpakant Township has killed a mother and left her three-year-old son among the wounded, local sources reported.
The attack occurred just after 1:00 PM today, March 7, when a junta jet fighter dropped three bombs on the Kyaw Naing jade mining block, located at Shin Tit Htaung Hill in Tarmakhan Village.
“The bombs hit the mining block directly. A mother and her child living in the staff quarters were struck by shrapnel,” a local military source told MPA. “The mother died instantly. Her three-year-old son sustained injuries to his head and nose. Two other civilians were also wounded, though their conditions are reportedly stable as they receive medical treatment.”
Local residents expressed outrage, noting that there was no active combat in the area nor any presence of revolutionary forces at the mining site during the time of the attack.
“There are no PDF (People’s Defense Force) members at a jade mining block. There was no fighting nearby. They just flew in and bombed us for no reason,” the source added.
Tarmakhan Village is situated approximately 18 miles from Hpakant’s urban center. This latest tragedy follows another incident on March 4, when heavy artillery shells landed in a residential alley in Hpakant town, wounding a 70-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl.
While large-scale clashes in Hpakant had temporarily subsided following the battle at the Lonkhin police station on February 14, tensions have surged again since March 4, with sporadic exchanges of fire reported between the military and resistance forces.
