July 15, 2026 | Burma Independent Voice
Following informal talks between ASEAN foreign ministers and the military junta’s representative in Bangkok, Thailand, junta forces launched a series of intense airstrikes, dropping nearly 60 bombs on villages within the Kawthoolei region. The Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN) released these findings in a statement today, July 15.
KPSN highlighted that the military council completely failed to honor the “immediate cessation of violence,” a foundational pillar of ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus (5PC). The network emphasized that the junta chose to respond to ASEAN’s diplomatic engagement by aggressively escalating its aerial bombardment campaign against civilian populations.
According to documentation compiled by KPSN, a junta fighter jet dropped 4 bombs and a Y-12 transport aircraft dropped 36 bombs—amounting to 40 bombs in total—on Ter Ghaw Kyo village in Luthaw Township, Mutraw District, just one day prior to the ASEAN ministerial meeting. The attack injured an 8-year-old boy, two men aged 19 and 41, and a 35-year-old woman. It also destroyed 16 homes, a rice barn, and two motorbikes.
The day after the results of the July 12 ASEAN talks materialized, a junta Y-12 aircraft targeted Ler K’taw, He Au, Shel Day, and Mor Pu villages in Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htu District, dropping an additional 22 bombs. The bombardments killed two innocent women, aged 65 and 57, and destroyed two shops.
“The military’s actions on the ground directly contradict their political rhetoric. As long as these aerial bombardments targeting civilians continue, it is impossible to place any trust in a peace process,” said Naw Wah Khu Shee, spokesperson for KPSN. “ASEAN must evaluate the crisis based on the junta’s actual conduct on the ground rather than relying on their verbal pledges.”
KPSN, a network comprising 22 civil society organizations, asserted that the military junta prioritizes its own grip on power and wealth over public safety. The network urged ASEAN to halt formal diplomatic engagements with the military council and instead implement practical, decisive pressure to force an immediate end to attacks on civilians.
