Dozens of people have been killed in one of Burma’s deadliest airstrikes since the 2021 coup, which the junta confirmed was behind it, drawing condemnation from the international community.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he was “horrified” after the attack on Tuesday, in “flagrant disregard for the rules of international law.” “It seems that children who were dancing, together with other civilians, during the opening ceremony of a center in the village of Pazi Gyi, in the district of Kanbalu, were among the victims”, indicated Volker Türk in a statement.
At least 50 dead and dozens injured
At least 50 dead and dozens injured have been reported by BBC Burmese, The Irrawaddy and Radio Free Asia, but the death toll could rise to 100 according to a rescue worker from an armed rebel group contacted by AFP. He indicated the presence of children and women among the victims.
The ruling junta acknowledged, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, “that there could be people wearing civilian clothes”, without mentioning a balance sheet, through its spokesman, Zaw Min Tun.
But the military has insisted it is targeting a gathering of armed opponents – the opening of an office of the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), which it calls “terrorists”. Some of the dead were uniformed anti-coup fighters, the representative said. “According to the information we got from the ground, the people killed are not just because of our attack. There were mines planted by the PDF around this area,” he said. A fighter jet and a combat helicopter were deployed during the attack, a security source told AFP.
Washington “concerned” by these attacks
Washington said it was “deeply concerned” by the attacks, which “underscore once again the regime’s disregard for human life and its responsibility for the terrible political and humanitarian crisis that has plagued Burma since the February coup. 2021,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement.
“Extreme force against innocent civilians”
Witnesses contacted by AFP also reported around a hundred deaths. Videos circulating on social networks – the authenticity of which AFP could not confirm – show bodies scattered in houses in ruins.
This is one of the deadliest attacks carried out by the junta, regularly accused of war crimes, since the February 1, 2021 coup that plunged Burma into chaos. This comes at the dawn of the celebrations for the Burmese New Year, Thingyan, which last several days. “This reinforces the climate of fear. There will be more reluctance to organize mass events of any kind, given the risk of bombardments”, denounced to AFP Phil Robertson, deputy director for the Asia from Human Rights Watch.
The National Unity Government (NUG), a body founded by former deputies of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, many of them in exile and which brings together an opposition party to the junta, denounced a “new example of indiscriminate use of extreme force against innocent civilians”.
The Sagaing region, near Mandalay, the country’s second largest city, is fiercely resisting the junta, and intense fighting has been going on there for months. More than half of the 1.2 million displaced people linked to the clashes come from this province, according to the UN.
More than 3,200 killed since the putsch
Burma has been torn apart by a violent conflict between the junta and its opponents since the coup of February 1, 2021, which overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, now in prison.
The Burmese army is counting on its air advantage, in particular thanks to its Russian and Chinese-made jets, to compensate for its difficulties on the ground, in a conflict which is bogged down, for lack of compromise on both sides. The United Nations counted more than 300 airstrikes in 2022, as well as several incidents involving civilian casualties.
In October, airstrikes on a concert organized by a major rebel ethnic group in the north of the country killed around 50 people, including civilians, according to the rebels.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has conditioned the holding of elections he has promised since taking power on the return of “peace and stability” in the country. The junta acknowledged in February that a third of Burma was beyond its control. A local human rights monitoring organization has cited more than 3,200 people killed since the putsch, when the army counted more than 5,000, which it attributes to its opponents.