NATTALIN, Myanmar — A mother and her daughter have been killed in a drone strike carried out by the Myanmar military in eastern Nattalin Township, part of the conflict-ridden Bago Region, according to local sources.
The attack occurred early on April 6, 2026, when military units from the 10th Light Infantry Division, based in neighboring Paungde, launched a coordinated assault using 120mm heavy artillery and combat drones. The victims, a woman in her 50s and her 30-year-old daughter, were reportedly at their betel nut shop near a local monastery in Pe Ma Kham village when the drone dropped explosives directly on the site.
The fatalities were part of a broader military operation involving roughly 100 troops who advanced from the Dam Nge base. On April 5, the column moved into Kan Thar Yar village, where they reportedly detained more than 100 residents to use as “human shields” during their march toward Pe Ma Kham.
“As of Tuesday morning, those villagers have not been released,” a local source told MPA. “The military has left a stay-behind force in Kan Thar Yar while the main column plunders Pe Ma Kham. They are using trucks to haul away personal belongings from the houses they break into.”
The assault intensified on the afternoon of April 6 when three paramotors—small motorized parachutes often used by the military for localized strikes—were deployed from the 66th Light Infantry Division headquarters in Inma. Residents reported that these units dropped nine bombs on Pe Ma Kham. While no further casualties were reported as most villagers had already fled, the psychological toll on the population has been immense.
The military’s “clearance operations” in eastern Nattalin have triggered a massive displacement crisis. Local humanitarian groups estimate that over 10,000 residents from 18 different villages, including Nyaung Wine, Kyauk Khwet, and Htan Taw, have fled into nearby forests and makeshift camps.
“The soldiers moved so quickly that many didn’t have time to gather their essentials,” a relief worker noted. “The distance between the military base and the target villages is short, leaving a very small window for escape.”
Since the military leadership’s recent administrative transition in the capital, resistance-held and contested areas in Bago have seen a sharp increase in the use of technical surveillance and air-to-ground strikes. The deaths in Pe Ma Kham add to a mounting toll of civilian casualties as the junta seeks to re-establish control over the strategic routes connecting central Myanmar to the coast.
