First modification:
Photos and videos shared on social networks and broadcast by pro-democracy media show the consequences of an airstrike in the village of Ka Nan, located in western Myanmar, on January 7, 2024, in which at least seventeen are believed to have died. civilians. Although state television claimed that reports of the attack were “fake news”, a visual investigation by 'Myanmar Witness' confirmed the authenticity of the attack and pointed to the involvement of the Myanmar Air Force.
A civil war between the ruling junta and armed ethnic groups has raged in Myanmar since the military coup that took place three years ago on February 1, 2021. Human rights organizations have repeatedly denounced bombings by the Myanmar Air Force against civilian infrastructure such as churches and schools, but these airstrikes continue.
However, these airstrikes are rarely as well documented as the one that took place on January 7, 2024 in Ka Nan, where an estimated seventeen civilians were killed. The Three Brothers Alliance, made up of several ethnic groups, has controlled this town located in western Myanmar, near the border with India, since November 7. Since October, the alliance has been carrying out a counteroffensive and has recaptured several strategic areas from the Myanmar army.
Images of the attack on Ka Nan and lists of the names of murdered civilians began circulating on social media in pro-democracy groups on January 7, 2024.
State television outlet MRTV claimed that reports of the attack were nothing more than “fake news” shared by “subversive media outlets.”
Myanmar Witness investigators were able to use images and videos of the attack posted online to document precisely how it unfolded. They attribute the attack to the Myanmar Army in a report published on January 30, 2024. Myanmar Witness is a project run by the Center for Information Resilience, a UK-based NGO.
How Myanmar Witness proved the involvement of the Myanmar Air Force
Fifteen seconds into a video posted by Khit Thit Media, an independent Myanmar news agency, a black mark can be seen in the sky. Then, the sound of a plane can be heard, followed by the sound of a detonation. The person recording the video then points the camera at several injured people and shows the bombed buildings.
This video was posted on Facebook on January 7, 2024 and filmed on the same day in Ka Nan, Myanmar.
This video contains “open source evidence” that allows researchers to determine the nature of the attack. For example, these images demonstrate that there were Myanmar Air Force planes at the scene, says Matt Lawrence, director of Myanmar Witness.
In the case of the Ka Nan attack, state media stated that no aircraft flew over the area that morning. However, Myanmar Witness identified and geolocated footage of a Q-5 ground attack aircraft in the sky above Ka Nan village moments before the sound of an explosion. Ka Nan is within range and required flight time from the Tada-U military air base, where four Q-5 ground attack aircraft were visible on the runway shortly before the attack.
In Myanmar, only the Myanmar Air Force has access to the Chinese-made Nanchang Q-5 ground attack aircraft, the aircraft visible in the video.
There are also references to planes passing over nearby towns on Burmese Telegram channels that track the movements of military aircraft.
Satellite images taken at 09:43 on January 7, 2024 show four Q-5 ground attack aircraft on the runway of the Tada-U military air base, located 300 km from Ka Nan. It appears that the planes were receiving fuel when the images were captured. Myanmar Witness reported that there is likely a connection between the supply of fuel to these planes and the attack, which took place at 10:30 a.m.
Destruction of civil infrastructure
Myanmar Witness also geolocated the buildings visible in different videos of the attack, such as this church.
The Myanmar Witness team then compared satellite images of the village taken before and after January 7:
From high-resolution satellite images, we found evidence of discoloration and destruction in and around Ka Nan, consistent with an airstrike, especially in the areas surrounding the church and school. Comparison with images from a few days earlier allowed us to identify the damage that likely resulted from this specific incident.
Myanmar Witness also analyzed the orientation of the shadows in the videos. Using the Suncalc website, which indicates the position of the sun at a given time and place, they determined when the videos of the Ka Nan attack were filmed: around 10:30 in the morning. This corresponds to the time given by the media that reported on the attack.
Social media users also shared several images showing injured people and bodies after the attack. Pro-democracy media outlets also published lists of victims, including children. A reverse image search showed that there was no trace of any of these images online before January 7, 2024.
Myanmar Witness managed to confirm the identity of one victim: a woman dressed in orange who appears in several images, apparently lifeless.
The team of researchers also geolocated images that showed blood.
In the case of the Ka Nan airstrike, the open source evidence is clear: images posted on social media and geolocated by investigators show extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure in the village of Ka Nan, including a church, a secondary school and housing.
We have seen this time and again in Myanmar, with airstrikes damaging or destroying educational facilities, hospitals and places of worship.
Myanmar Witness' Matt Lawrence says he hopes the case that took place in Ka Nan on January 7, 2024 will highlight the continued use of these illegal attacks by the Myanmar Army.
“The Myanmar Army has overwhelming air superiority”
Lawrence continues:
An investigation published by Myanmar Witness last year found that airstrikes were occurring almost daily in areas where fighting is worst, such as Sagaing. Civilians live in a state of fear about when the next attack might occur; This has become part of their daily life.
The Myanmar Army has overwhelming air superiority, in the form of fighter jets and ground attack helicopters. This dominance of the sky serves as a method of intimidation and fear, especially when facing an opponent who, at most, has access to short-range drones.
Myanmar Witness told France 24's Observers team that they had no solid evidence about the motive for the airstrike that devastated Ka Nan on January 7.
#Observers #Myanmar #deadly #airstrike #denied #state #media #documented