Myanmar’s military announced this week that it carried out a devastating attack on a village gathering organized by its insurgent opponents, and that civilians were killed because they were forced to support the “terrorists.”
According to media reports, up to 100 people, including children, were killed in Tuesday’s air strike in the Sagaing area of northwest Myanmar, making it the deadliest in a recent string of military air attacks.
Myanmar has been in upheaval since a coup in 2021 halted a decade of modest change, including administration by a civilian government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
Some opponents of military authority have taken up arms, joining ethnic minority guerrillas in some regions, and the military has retaliated with air strikes and heavy weapons, including in residential areas. According to his spokesperson, UN Secretary-
General Antonio Guterres condemned the air attack in Sagaing and urged for those guilty to be held accountable. Guterres also “reiterates his call for the military to end the campaign of violence against the Myanmar population throughout the country.”
According to Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun, the attack on the ceremony organized by the National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow administration, for their armed People’s Defense Force was aimed at restoring peace and stability in the region.
“We launched the attack during the opening ceremony.” Members of the PDF were assassinated.
They are the people who are opposing the government of the country,” said Zaw Min Tun. “According to our ground information, we hit the location of their weapons storage, which exploded and killed people,” he explained.
In response to allegations of civilian casualties, he stated that “some people who were forced to support them probably died as well.” ‘BODY PIECES
‘ According to Zaw Min Tun, images show that some of them slain were in uniform and some were not, accusing the PDF of falsely claiming civilian deaths while their men were killed. He also accused PDF members of “war crimes” and the murder of “monks, teachers, and innocent residents” in the area who did not back the opposition.
Before the junta’s comment was widely publicized, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk decried the attack in a message, saying it “appears schoolchildren performing dances, as well as other civilians… were among the victims.”
According to locals of the region, BBC Burmese, Radio Free Asia (RFA) Burmese, and the Irrawaddy news portal, between 80 and 100 persons, including civilians, were murdered in the military attack.
A PDF member stated that approximately 100 bodies, including 16 children, had been cremated.
“The exact death toll remains unknown because… body parts are scattered all over the place,” said a PDF member who did not want to be identified.
The military’s air force has no effective defenses against Myanmar’s weakly armed rebel fighters.
In October, a military plane targeted a performance in Kachin State, killing at least 50 spectators, singers, and members of an ethnic minority guerrilla force.
According to Kyaw Zaw, a spokesman for the NUG, almost 100 people were killed in the Tuesday raid, which began with air force jets dropping bombs on villagers and was followed by helicopter gunships, calling it “another senseless, barbaric, brutal attack by the military.” The military disputes allegations of crimes against civilians and claims to be fighting “terrorists” out to destabilize the country.
For the majority of the past 60 years, the military has dominated Myanmar, claiming that it is the only institution capable of holding the varied country together.
