ISTANBUL

A recent junta airstrike has killed at least 32 civilians in Kayah state in eastern Myanmar, the Irrawady news outlet reported Tuesday.

The State Interim Executive Council (IEC) announced that five people were also injured Sunday in the strike on Mawchi.

“Mawchi has mines, so a lot of people come here to do business, selling rice and food. The junta is trying to destroy the socio-economic life of this town and terrorize the people,” the second secretary of the IEC, U Banyar, told the news outlet.

Among the deceased were eight women, including two children and 18 men. Six bodies were too badly damaged to determine identities. One woman and four men were injured.

U Banyar added that the strike was the deadliest ever in the state.

Junta aircraft carried out additional attacks early Tuesday on Mawchi, though information on casualties has not been confirmed.

The IEC urged the global community, including the UN and the South Asian nations bloc, ASEAN, to respond to the junta's war crimes.

The junta had already launched 14 airstrikes on Mawchi this year before Sunday’s bombing, with three in the previous month, resulting in the deaths of 11 civilians.

Myanmar has been in a state of civil war since the junta took power in 2021.