Radio Free Asia (RFA) says North Korea suffered significant damage when South Korea launched a counterattack in response to the North’s artillery shelling of Yeonpyeong Island last week.

The Washington-funded broadcaster quoted a North Korean source as saying that South Korea’s artillery destroyed many barracks, residences for officers and civilian houses.

North Korea is reportedly keeping the destroyed facilities under wraps, not wanting to let the outside world know about the damage it sustained.

The broadcaster said that the civilian houses destroyed during the South Korean counterattack were in residential districts where North Korean military facilities are located.

The broadcaster said that no civilian casualties were reported because North Korean authorities had evacuated civilians before launching the artillery barrage on the South Korean island.