Burma: 14 dead in airstrike against monastery

Fourteen people were killed Friday in an airstrike by the Burmese army against a monastery where civilians were participating in a meditation retreat, according to two witnesses who went to the scene after the incident.

“They intentionally attacked a monastery”

The attack occurred around 9 a.m. local time (2:30 a.m. GMT) on the outskirts of the town of Myaung, in the center of the country, ravaged by civil war. Eleven men and three women died, according to Nway Oo Myaung, a pro-democracy fighter who took part in the evacuation of the victims.

“As is our tradition for Buddhist Lent, elderly people entered the meditation center for three months,” he explained on Friday. “The victims were between 50 and 70 years old,” he added. “It was not a mistargeting, they intentionally attacked a monastery.”

“The aircraft came back to bomb a second time”

A second local fighter, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, confirmed the human toll of the airstrike on Saturday. “Five of the dead came from our village and the other nine from neighboring villages,” he said. “While we were trying to rescue people, the plane came back to bomb a second time,” he continued. It was not immediately possible to reach the Burmese army for comment.

More than 100,000 people have been killed on all sides since the start of the civil war in Burma, triggered in 2021 by a military coup that overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Army intensifies strikes against civilians

UN investigators released a report last week accusing the military of stepping up airstrikes against civilians. “The frequency and intensity of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Burmese army and various armed groups have continued to worsen,” they stressed.

The Burmese government rejected these “unilateral allegations”, based according to it on “unverifiable and inaccurate information”.

Former junta leader Min Aung Hlaing became president in April after a restricted vote denounced abroad as a maneuver to give military power a civilian disguise.

He has since sought to revive diplomatic relations in his country, largely marginalized by the international community after the 2021 coup. India, China, Laos and Thailand have all welcomed him in recent months, sparking criticism from human rights activists.

Min Aung Hlaing also visited Russia and Belarus this week, which have always shown their support for Burma, even under the junta.