Nearly a hundred killed at a Myanmar village gathering, military justifies with "restoring peace"
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Naypyidaw: Myanmar military killed around 100 people including civilians and children during a village gathering organised by insurgent opponents. The air strike in the Sagaing area is being called the deadliest in the recent string of air attacks by the military.
BBC Burmese, Radio Free Asia (RFA) Burmese, and the Irrawaddy news portal have reported between 80 to 100 deaths. A PDF member said that the exact death toll is unclear because body parts are scattered all over the place. They added that 16 children were cremated.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told military broadcast channel Myawaddy that the ceremony was held by the National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow administration for their armed People's Defence Force. He added that the attack on the gathering was to "restore peace and stability in the region." The military claimed that if civilians were also killed it was because they were being forced to help the "terrorists".
"During that opening ceremony, we conducted the attack. PDF members were killed. They are the ones opposing the government of the country, the people of the country. According to our ground information, we hit the place of their weapons' storage and that exploded and people died due to that. Some people who were forced to support them probably died as well," he added.
He further accused the PDF of committing "war crimes" and killing "monks, teachers, and innocent residents" who did not support the opposition.
A 2021 coup ended a decade of democratic reform in Myanmar. Some people who oppose military rule have formed an insurgency. The military has been responding with heavy weapons including in civilian areas. The opposition fighters are lightly armed and have no effective defences against the military.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and said those responsible should be held accountable. His spokesperson said that the UN chief "reiterates his call for the military to end the campaign of violence against the Myanmar population throughout the country," reported Reuters.
U.N. Human Rights chief Volker Turk also condemned the attack and said that it appears that school children performing dances and other civilians were among the victims.