At least six people, including three children, have been killed after a Myanmar military jet dropped heavy ordinance on a village in Tanintharyi Region, striking a building where a summer literacy programme was underway.
The attack occurred at approximately 12:30 local time on 9 March 2026, when a junta fighter jet released two 500lb bombs on Ta Phie Lay Kho village in Palaw Township. According to the Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 4, the bombs hit a Christian mission house where dozens of children were attending a seasonal literature and language course.
The victims included two 11-year-old boys and a 6-year-old girl, as well as three men in their 40s. Three other teenagers, all aged 13, sustained injuries in the blast.
“There were many children present. They were attending a summer school session at the mission house,” Padoh Saw Eh Nar, an official from the KNU’s Mergui-Tavoy District, told the Myanmar Pressphoto Agency (MPA). He emphasized that there were no active clashes in the vicinity at the time of the strike and condemned the military’s actions as a war crime. “Targeting religious and educational buildings is an inhumane act,” he added.
Graphic video footage obtained from the scene shows extensive destruction, with the strike reportedly hitting directly in front of the residential and teaching area. Local sources estimate that dozens of people, primarily children, were in the building at the time of the bombardment.
Ta Phie Lay Kho is a predominantly Karen village located about 20 miles east of Palaing town. The region has seen a sharp escalation in aerial warfare as the military junta struggles to contain resistance forces across Tanintharyi.
Elsewhere in the region on the same day, revolutionary forces reportedly attacked a police station in Thayetchaung, while clashes in Bokpyin Township left four junta soldiers dead. The military has frequently responded to ground-level losses with increased airpower, often targeting civilian-populated zones.
Communication with many parts of Tanintharyi remains difficult due to ongoing internet and mobile network shutdowns implemented by the military authorities.
