The junta launched an unprovoked airstrike on Sawlon Village, in Karenni State’s Bawlakhe Township at about 4:00 a.m. on 17 May.

Ma Khin Shwe Win, aged 17, was killed in the airstrike and four men were also injured. Two rural health clinics, six houses, and one village monastery were also destroyed in the attack.

According to the villagers there had been no fighting in the area and the attack was unprovoked.

One said: “There was no fighting in the vicinity of the village. People were sleeping when the bombs were dropped early in the morning.”

The airstrike caused most of the villagers to flee from Sawlon Village.

Bawlakhe People’s Defence force (PDF) urged people to build bomb shelters to help protect themselves from random bombings, such as this, in civilian areas.

In April 2023 the junta conducted 108 airstrikes in Karenni State that killed one civilian and injured five others, according to Bawlakhe PDF.