Junta Drone Strikes Kill 9 in Ngazun Township, Mandalay Region — Including Woman Shielding Infant — After Brief Resistance Clash

Myanmar junta armed drone strikes killed nine people in Ngazun Township, Mandalay Region on May 29, 2026 (Day 1,943 of the civil war since the February 1, 2021 coup), including a woman who was shielding an infant at the time of the attack, according to Myanmar Now reporting. The strike followed a brief clash between junta forces and local resistance fighters in the area. Ngazun Township sits along the Irrawaddy River corridor in Mandalay Region's Myingyan District — an area the Emergency Management Committee–Mandalay had documented as a target of junta drone, artillery, and air attacks throughout April-May 2026, with 23 people killed or injured in Ngazun in April alone. The deliberate targeting of civilians following a skirmish, including a mother shielding her baby, exemplifies the SAC's documented pattern of collective punishment: using lethal force against civilian populations in townships where resistance forces operate, regardless of civilian presence or flight. Ngazun Township is part of the broader Myingyan District frontline — one of the most active PDF guerrilla zones in Mandalay Region — where the junta has deployed drones, paramotors, artillery, and fighter jets in sustained operations since April 2026. A separate Myanmar Now article from approximately this period ('Junta paramotor strike kills four in Mandalay Region village') further documented the SAC's use of low-altitude motorized paramotor aircraft to strike civilian areas in the Mandalay-Sagaing corridor. Myanmar's civil war death toll continues to climb: ACLED estimated 96,000+ total conflict deaths by early 2026, and UN OCHA projects 16.2 million Burmese — nearly one-third of the population — requiring humanitarian assistance.