A baby who was only months old and another child were injured when junta drones and artillery bombed Kyaungkone Village in Kyaukkyi Township, Bago Region, on 13 November 2024.

Kyaungkone Village is in Nyaunglebin District which the Karen National Union (KNU) refers to as Kler Lwee Htoo District. The area has traditionally been mainly under the control of KNU Brigade 3.

There was no ongoing fighting near Kyaungkone when the junta launched artillery and drone attacks on the village at 10:00 am on 13 November.

During the attack the house where the two children were staying was hit by a shell and they were injured.

A woman from Kyaungkone Village said to KIC: “The parents were not home when the house was hit. The older child was babysitting the months-old baby in a crib when the shell struck. Both children have been taken to the hospital, with the older child's injuries being slightly more serious.”

The junta soldiers continued to randomly fire small arms and artillery shells at Kyaungkone Village until the afternoon of 13 November, which caused some residents to flee the village. Villagers who spoke to KIC on the evening of 13 November confirmed that at the time of the junta shelling there was no fighting near Kyaungkone Village. They described the junta’s actions as an unprovoked attack.

Villagers speculated that the junta had attacked the village out of spite after suffering losses in ambushes carried out by resistance forces in Kyaukkyi Township, during late October and early November.

Also in November, the junta shelled villages in Mone and Shwegyin townships which neighbour Kyaukkyi Township. Two civilians were injured and a school and several houses were damaged, according to a 12 November KNU Central Executive Committee announcement.