Myanmar’s military has killed dozens of people in airstrikes on an event organised by its domestic opponents, in what is feared to be one of the deadliest attacks since the junta seized power more than two years ago.
Local independent media reported that the attack on Tuesday morning targeted a ceremony marking the opening of an office set up by the military’s opponents in the village of Pa Zi Gyi, in Sagaing region.
The national unity government (NUG), which was set up to oppose the junta, said at least 53 people were confirmed dead, 40 were injured and the death toll was expected to rise.
“This morning, the Myanmar air force dropped multiple bombs on a civilian gathering of several hundred people, while attack helicopters strafed the crowd,” the NUG’s acting president, Duwa Lashi La, said in a statement.
Some local news outlets said residents feared the death toll could be as high as 100.
Images shared online that appear to have been taken after the attack showed people in civilian clothes dead on the ground beside a destroyed structure. In a video, a man can be heard saying: “If you have survived, please make a sound.” He tells others: “If you hear a shout, help them. Go, go.”
Kyaw Wunna, a rescue worker, told the Than Lwin Times that the new administration building – set up by a local people’s defence force (PDF), a volunteer group fighting to overthrow the military – had been completed only a week ago. Refreshments were being served at the opening ceremony and local people, including children, had attended.
On social media, many turned their profile pictures black in tribute to those killed.
A rescuer interviewed by the media outlet the Irrawaddy said children aged between three and five had been brought by their mothers to the event. “The corpses cannot be identified since they are all scattered in body parts – legs and heads. After gathering them all, we burned them.”
The UN human rights chief Volker Turk said he was “horrified” at the airstrikes, saying that the victims appeared to have included “schoolchildren performing dances, as well as other civilians.”
The airstrikes happened at about 8am local time on Tuesday morning, according to the NUG. The Kyunhla activist group, which is volunteering to help the injured, said the military launched another attack later in the day, at 5.35 pm, striking the same area three times.
The military, which seized power in a coup in February 2021, provoking widespread opposition among the public, has increasingly launched airstrikes in an attempt to crush a determined armed resistance movement. Strikes have hit schools, medical facilities, religious sites, civilian homes and infrastructure, according to Myanmar Witness, a group of open-source researchers that monitors atrocities.
The junta, which relies on Russian and Chinese aircraft, has not commented on Tuesday’s attack. It has previously denied atrocities against civilians and called resistance groups “terrorists” that it says are trying to devastate Myanmar.
Duwa Lashi La called for the attack to be condemned. “The military continues its mindless war on our country’s own people. Their sole aim is to consolidate power through death and destruction. They will not succeed. We will continue our fight for a new Myanmar. Our goal is a Myanmar in which such atrocities cannot occur and where power derives from the will of the people, not force of arms,” he said.
He asked neighbouring countries to provide humanitarian assistance to Sagaing and other regions engulfed in conflict.
Before the coup, the Sagaing region, home to the Buddhist-Bamar majority, had been spared the level of military violence and oppression that has long been inflicted on minorities in border regions. It is now one of the frontlines in the battle against the junta, and has been heavily targeted by airstrikes and the burning of villages.
The Amnesty International business and human rights researcher Montse Ferrer said there was an urgent need to suspend the supply of aviation fuel to Myanmar’s military.
“This supply chain fuels violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes, and it must be disrupted in order to save lives,” Ferrer said. “Unlawful air attacks killing and injuring civilians and destroying homes are a trademark of the Myanmar military, which goes to despicable lengths to crush resistance and instil fear in the population. Myanmar’s civilians bear the brunt of these sickening tactics.”
The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has soared since the coup, from 1 million to 17.6 million, according to the UN. Almost 1.8 million people are displaced across Myanmar.
Tuesday’s attack comes days before Thingyan, the Burmese new year festival, normally a time for water fights and celebrations in the streets. Since the coup, pro-democracy activists have called for the public to boycott junta-organised events.
Last weekend, opposition groups set off several bombs at pavilions built by the military for Thingyan in the cities of Yangon, Mandalay and Mawlamyine, according to a report by Radio Free Asia. Groups have warned of further attacks.
