All operating theaters, patient wards, laboratories, ambulances, fuel storages, and pharmaceutical equipment destroyed
The death toll has reached five, and the count of injured individuals has climbed to 30 after last week's airstrikes by the coup Junta on Vawmm'Tu Hospital in Mindat Township, Chin State. It also resulted in the complete destruction of the hospital, highlighting an urgent need for aid to restore healthcare services to the local community.
The Midat People's Administrative Team (Mindat PAT) has reported that Junta fighter jets conducted two air raids around 8:00 pm on April 25, dropping at least four 500-pound bombs.
Mindat Pat elaborated that , “During the first airstrike, bombs targeted the hospital's patient wards, resulting in the deaths of 5 individuals and injuries to 30 others. In the second round of attack, medical equipment, storage facilities and staff housing, were entirely obliterated.”
The airstrikes caused near-total destruction, wiping out all operating theaters, patient wards, laboratories, ambulances, fuel storages, pharmaceutical equipment, and staff housing, with an estimated damage value of around one billion MMK.
Vawmm'Tu Hospital serves as a crucial medical facility, offering healthcare and medical services not only to the entirety of Mindat Township but also to residents from Matupi, Paletwa, and Kanpetlet townships in southern Chin State, as well as to resistance fighters operating in various townships across Magway Region including Gangaw, Tilin, Kyaukhtu, Saw, Laungshey, Sidoktaya, Pwintphyu, Seikphyu, Pauk, and Myaing, as well as Pale and Yinmarbin in Sagaing Region.
"Vawmm'Tu stood as a beacon of hope for the local community and resistance fighters It served as a hospital dedicated to the people, providing essential surgeries during the revolutionary period at minimal or no cost for civilians and resistance members”, Mindat PAT announced.
Hence it is an urgent imperative to reconstruct and reinstate the hospital's operations swiftly and of paramount importance for both the local populace, and the resistance forces.
Health workers involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), an anti-Junta campaign, were also serving at the hospital, yet thankfully remained unharmed in the airstrikes.
Throughout 2023 and 2024, Vawmm'Tu Hospital faced artillery bombardments by the Mindat-based Junta's 274th Infantry Battalion, launching approximately 60 artillery shells across roughly 20 occasions. These barrages not only inflicted damage upon the surrounding village areas but also resulted in injuries to locals.
During the January 15 airstrike by the Junta on Vawmm'Tu village, where the hospital is located, an elderly woman lost her life, several residents sustained injuries, and some houses were destroyed.
On February 15, a Junta column arrived at the hospital and ransacked it, setting fire to medicines, furniture, x-ray machines, and drinking water containers.
