Two bombs fell on Swel Le Oh village in central Myanmar, the second about 15 minutes after the first. By the time the plane was gone, 14 people at the village monastery were dead, according to an opposition group and a local resident.
Nway Oo, a spokesperson for the Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung Township, said a fighter jet struck the monastery compound on Friday. Three of the dead were women, and 20 more people were hurt. The village lies in Myaung township, about 75 kilometres west of Mandalay.
More than 100 people were staying in and around the monastery for a weeklong meditation retreat marking Buddhist Lent, a villager told The Associated Press. He asked not to be named. He confirmed the toll of 14 and said his mother-in-law was among those killed. The second bomb damaged a nearby house, he added.
Nway Oo told AFP the monastery was no accident. “It wasn’t a mistaken target; they intentionally attacked a monastery,” he said.
The BBC’s Burmese Service and local media put the death toll between 10 and 14. The military did not immediately comment on the strike. It has said before that it attacks only legitimate targets.
Sagaing and the wider war
Myaung township is in Sagaing region, a stronghold of armed resistance to the military government, and the army has often used airstrikes against opposition forces there. Myanmar has been in a near countrywide civil war since the army took power from the elected government in February 2021. The Council on Foreign Relations estimates the fighting has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced 5.2 million.
The UN-established Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar said it had seen a notable escalation in aerial attacks, and accused the military-backed government of “indiscriminate and intentional aerial attacks against civilians.” The monitoring group ACLED accused the regime of a “terror strategy” aimed at “civilian infrastructure and social gatherings, such as weddings and religious festivals.”
Myanmar’s foreign ministry rejected the UN report. It said the military targets only “terrorists” and uses maximum restraint to avoid harming civilians.
Sources
- Myanmar military bombing kills 14 at Buddhist monastery, opposition reports
- Myanmar airstrike kills 14 at Buddhist monastery: reports
