Airstrikes on Myanmar village feared to have killed 100

BANGKOK (AP):

Airstrikes by Myanmar’s military on Tuesday killed as many as 100 people, including many children, who were attending a ceremony held by opponents of army rule, said a witness, a member of a local pro-democracy group and independent media.

The military is increasingly using airstrikes to counter a widespread armed struggle against its rule, which began in February 2021 when it seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. More than 3,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed since then by security forces.

A witness told The Associated Press that a fighter jet dropped bombs directly on to a crowd of people who were gathering at 8 a.m. for the opening of a local office of the country’s opposition movement outside Pazigyi village in Sagaing region’s Kanbalu township. The area is about 110 kilometres (70 miles) north of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city.

About half an hour later, a helicopter appeared and fired at the site, said the witness, who asked not to be identified because he feared punishment by the authorities.

Initial reports put the death toll at around 50, but later tallies reported by independent media raised it to about 100. It was impossible to independently confirm details of the attack because reporting is restricted by the military government.

About 150 people had gathered for the opening ceremony, and women and 20 to 30 children were among the dead, he said, adding that those killed also included leaders of locally formed anti-government armed groups and other opposition organisations.

The United Nations, United States and others strongly condemned the attack and pledged to work toward holding the military accountable.

’This heinous act by the terrorist military is yet another example of their indiscriminate use of extreme force against innocent civilians, constituting a war crime,” the opposition National Unity Government said in a statement. The NUG calls itself the country’s legitimate government, in opposition to the army. The office being opened Tuesday was part of its administrative network.

The military government’s spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, acknowledged in a statement phoned to state television MRTV that the ceremony had been attacked, but accused anti-government forces in the area of carrying out a violent campaign of terror. He said the People’s Defense Forces – the armed wing of the National Unity Government – had terrorised residents into supporting them, killing Buddhist monks, teachers and other people, while the military sought peace and stability. He said there was evidence the attack had set off secondary blasts of explosives hidden by the People’s Defense Forces around the site.