More than 100 people, including children, were slain by Myanmar’s military on Tuesday while they were attending a ceremony organised by those who oppose military rule.
More than 150 people gathered at Pazigyi village in the Kanbalu township of the Sagaing area, according to a local pro-democracy organisation member and independent media, to launch a local office of the nation’s opposition movement.
Around 100 people, including over 30 children, were killed when a fighter plane dropped bombs on a gathering of onlookers at around 8 in the morning, an eyewitness who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity claimed.
“I was standing a short distance from the crowd when a friend of mine contacted me on the phone about the approach of a fighter jet,’ the witness said.
“The jet dropped bombs directly on the crowd, and I jumped into a nearby ditch and hid. A few moments later, when I stood up and looked around, I saw people cut to pieces and dead in the smoke. The office building was destroyed by fire. About 30 people were injured. While the wounded were being transported, a helicopter arrived and shot more people. We are now cremating the bodies quickly,” he added.
He continued by saying that those killed also included the heads of various opposition organisations and locally established armed anti-government groups.
Importantly, since toppling the democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi government in February 2021, the junta rule has been progressively utilising airstrikes on its own people.
In the two years since then, security forces are believed to have killed more than 3,000 civilians, according to a United Nations investigation.
UN condemn the attack
According to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, the organisation strongly condemned the attack by the Myanmar armed forces and demanded that those responsible be brought to justice. He also emphasised the need for the injured to receive medical care, which is “often a challenge in these circumstances.”
In accordance with international humanitarian law, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “condemns all forms of violence and reaffirms the primacy of protecting civilians” and “reiterates his call for the military to end the campaign of violence against the Myanmar population throughout the country,” according to Dujarric.
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