Myanmar’s ruling junta confirmed that it carried out an air strike on Tuesday on a village in which at least 100 people, including many children and reporters, were killed. The people were gathered for the opening of a local office of the country’s opposition movement outside Pazigyi village in Sagaing region’s Kanbalu township.
A witness told The Associated Press that a fighter jet dropped bombs directly onto a crowd of around 150 people at around 8 am on Tuesday. 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.
He added that after the initial attack, a helicopter appeared about half an hour later and fired at the site.
The exact number of deaths remains unclear as reporting is restricted by the military government.
The Myanmar junta confirmed the attack on Tuesday night and said, “We attacked that place.” A spokesperson for the military government said, “There was (a People’s Defence Force) office opening ceremony… (Tuesday) morning about 8 am at Pazi Gyi village. The People’s Defence Force is the armed wing of the National Unity Government, which calls itself the country’s legitimate government, in opposition to the army.
The spokesperson said some of those who were killed were anti-coup fighters in uniform, though “there could be some people with civilian clothes”. He also blamed mines planted by the People’s Defence Force for some of the deaths, said a report by AFP.
The United Nations strongly condemned the attack with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterating his call for the military to end the campaign of violence against the Myanmar population. US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said such “violent attacks” underscore the “regime’s disregard for human life and its responsibility for the dire political and humanitarian crisis” in the country.
The opposition National Unity Government also called the attack a “heinous act by the terrorist military” and said it was “another example of their indiscriminate use of extreme force against innocent civilians, constituting a war crime”. The office which was being opened on Tuesday was part of its administrative network.
