Dozens or up to a hundred people, including children and pregnant women, were massacred during a shelling by the Burmese army on Tuesday, local media reported, citing witnesses. The attack, which included the dropping of bombs and the subsequent shooting from a helicopter, was aimed at the celebration of an act of the Government of National Unity (NUG), which declares itself the legitimate authority of Myanmar after the 2021 coup. , in the Sagaing region, one of the main rebel strongholds in the northwest of the country.
If the figure of one hundred victims is confirmed, it would be the deadliest attack carried out by the country’s military junta, although the identification tasks are complicated because many bodies were dismembered. At least 50 injuries were also reported, most with loss of limbs, rescuers told Radio Free Asia. Minutes after the bombing, a helicopter returned to fire on people trying to care for the survivors. It is estimated that up to 150 people were able to attend the event, in which food was served for the residents of the town. The escalation of violence has been condemned by the international community.
Myanmar has been mired in a spiral of violence and semi-anarchy since a coup on February 1, 2021 ended a decade of democratic transition under the government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Some opponents of the military government have taken up arms and the military has responded with air strikes and artillery, including against civilians. The Army only controls a quarter of the nation.
The spokesman for the coup regime, Zaw Min Tun, acknowledged on Wednesday to the Myawaddy television network, belonging to the military, that the junta was the one who led the attack against the people’s defense forces (PDF), opposition movement and armed wing of the NUG, formed mainly by young people two years ago. He also noted that the level of destruction was because they hit “a weapons storage place, which exploded and people died because of it.” “Probably, civilians forced to support them also died,” declared the general, who, in line with military rhetoric, branded the PDF as “terrorists.”
The NUG Defense Ministry, which operates in semi-clandestine, said the bombings caused “the loss of many innocent lives and injured many more, including children and pregnant women” and described the attack as “a war crime.” There is talk of the loss of at least 16 minors.
Ko Aung, a resident of the razed village, Pa Zi Gyi, arrived at the scene shortly after the attack, and was “petrified” to see the bodies scattered on the ground. “The motorbikes were on fire and the house was also completely destroyed by the shelling. People were crying as they searched for their relatives,” he told the independent news portal Irrawaddy. Like him, he lost some of his family members. He had to take shelter under a concrete bridge when Mi-35 helicopters appeared and began firing at them.
The attack drew condemnation from several international organizations, including the United Nations and human rights groups. UN Secretary General António Guterres called for “those responsible to be held to account” and for the injured to be allowed to receive medical treatment and access to assistance. UN human rights chief Volker Turk declared himself “appalled” and said the victims included dancing school-age children as well as other civilians.
“The EU is deeply shocked by reports of the latest atrocity committed by the military regime in Sagaing, which claimed the lives of dozens of innocent civilians. We continue to work to hold those responsible to account,” said Nabila Massrali, spokesperson for Foreign Affairs. and EU Security Policy.
From Washington, the US State Department said the attacks in Sagaing and Chin state this month underscore the junta’s disregard for human life. “The United States calls on the Burma regime to cease the horrific violence, allow unimpeded humanitarian access, and respect the genuine and inclusive democratic aspirations of the people of Burma,” spokesman Vedant Patel said.
Montse Ferrer, a London-based business and human rights researcher for Amnesty International, recalled the “urgent need to suspend the importation of aviation fuel by “foreign” states and companies, “so that they stop shipments that could end up in the hands of the Myanmar Air Force.
The NUG spokesman compares the magnitude of this bombardment with the air strike carried out in October during a music festival in the north of the country to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), of the ethnic group namesake and allies of the NUG, and which he claims left some 80 dead.
On March 27, the leader of the military junta, Min Aung Hlaing, warned that he would “firmly appease” the resistance, targeting in particular the NUG and its armed wing, the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), during a military parade for Armed Forces Day.
The NUG was formed in part by former deputies from the National League for Democracy (NLD) of Aung San Suu Kyi, the government overthrown by the military, while the PDF emerged shortly after, nurtured above all by young people who joined the fight armed and were trained by the ethnic minority guerillas that have operated in the country for decades.
In line with what was announced, the armed forces have escalated violence recently: at the end of March at least eight people died, including two children, after a bombardment in the state of Chin, while two weeks earlier some thirty were killed near the capital. The UN rapporteur for Burma, Thomas Andrews, denounced in March that more than 3,000 civilians have been killed, 1.3 million have had to flee their homes and 16,000 have become political prisoners since the coup, including Suu Kyi.
