New Delhi: At least 100 people, including several children, were killed in an airstrike by Myanmar’s military in Kanbalu township of Sagaing region, reports The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), citing a witness from a local pro-democracy group and the independent Did. Media. The attack took place at around 8am on Tuesday during a ceremony marking the opening of the People’s Administration Team office in Pa Zi Gee village, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun confirmed, reported by Malaymail. He said some of the dead were anti-coup fighters in uniform, while acknowledging that “there may have been some people in plainclothes”. Resistance to military rule, there was intense fighting for months.”
According to the ground information we have received, people have not been killed in our attack. Some mines were planted by the PDF around that area,” Malaymail quoted him as saying that the airstrikes had also affected the ammunition and mines storage area. However, Irrawaddy reported that 50 civilians, including children, were killed and 30 were injured.Meanwhile, Myanmar Now, a news agency, said the airstrikes killed 80 people.
Reacting to the incident, UN rights chief Volker Turk on Tuesday said he was “horrified” by the deadly airstrikes, whose victims included dancing school children, as the global body called for bringing those responsible to justice. Said for It was the junta’s deadliest attack since seizing power in 2021. As resistance forces became better armed, the military doubled down on its strategy of conducting airstrikes and targeting civilians.
Pictures from the village being shared on social media showed more than a dozen charred and mutilated bodies, while videos showed a destroyed building, burnt motorcycles and debris scattered over a wide area . Rescue workers at the scene confirmed the authenticity of the images with The New York Times.
The apparent target of the attack was a celebration to mark the opening of an administrative office of the local resistance movement. After the air raid only the burnt frame of the building remained standing, a video and photographs were shown.
Myanmar’s military, which has battled armed ethnic groups for territorial control since shortly after independence in 1948, has a long history of brutal attacks on civilians. Since the coup, pro-democracy forces have united with some armed ethnic groups in a national campaign to oust the military, creating the most unified resistance movement the military has faced.