MYANMAR: One of the bloodiest airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar military thus far in the civil war is believed to have killed over 100 people. The UN condemned the attack, which targeted a community in the northwest Sagaing district. Since gaining control in February 2021, the military has utilised airstrikes against opponents more frequently.
General Zaw Min Tun, the military junta’s spokesman, confirmed the airstrike on state television. He said they had chosen to attack Pa Zi Gyi because the village was holding a ceremony to mark the opening of an office for their local volunteer defence force.
These anti-coup militias sometimes referred to as the People’s Defence Forces, or PDFS, are fighting the military with weapons throughout Myanmar. The Sagaing region has demonstrated some of the strongest resistance to military rule.
The junta is employing air power more frequently and focusing on symbols of resistance to its authority since army convoys are being ambushed so frequently these days on the highways.
It sometimes destroys entire villages in a campaign of scorched earth to finally crush the stubborn resistance it is encountering across most of the nation. This includes schools and health centres.
According to the allegations, on Tuesday at around 7:00 local time (01:30 BST), a military plane flew over and dropped a bomb right over the community centre where officials were meeting. This was followed by a helicopter gunship attacking the area for 20 minutes. The aircraft later returned and started firing on people who were attempting to gather the deceased, according to witnesses.
People from neighbouring settlements who were attending the ceremony were in the village.
UN condemns the military strike in Myanmar
Residents released a video after the attack that showed scenes of horrific destruction, including mutilated bodies on the ground and many burning structures.
They claimed that while they made an effort to count the bodies, it was challenging due to the sheer number of them being in pieces and dispersed among torn clothing and burned motorcycles.
“Despite clear legal obligations for the military to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities, there has been a blatant disregard for the related rules of international law,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the military and its affiliated militias are responsible for an extremely broad range of human rights violations and abuses since February 1, 2021, some of which may constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes.”
The civil war has resulted in thousands of deaths and an additional 1.4 million displaced people. According to the United Nations, over a third of the population of the nation requires humanitarian assistance.
As a result, non-combatants suffer far more losses when the junta uses its Russian and Chinese aircraft to strike communities controlled by the opposition.
The exiled National Unity Government, which was established after the coup, claims that between October 2021 and September 2022, these attacks resulted in the deaths of 155 citizens.
At least 50 people were killed in October when three bombs were dropped on a concert in Kachin state by an ethnic militant group using air force jets. At least five children were murdered and numerous others were hurt in an attack on a school in the central Myanmar hamlet of Let Yet Kone a month earlier.
If the death toll at Pa Zi Gyi is confirmed, it will be one of the bloodiest single episodes in the civil war to date.
Also Read: Myanmar Military Continues Civilian Air Attacks Two Years after Coup
