The attack which took place in Kanbalu township is seen as one of the deadliest attacks since the junta seized power….reports Asian Lite News
At least 133 people were killed, including women and children in an airstrike by the military Junta on a village in Central Myanmar, CNN reported citing the human rights minister of the ousted shadow National Unity Government Aung Myo Min.
The attack which took place on Tuesday in Kanbalu township in the central Sagaing region of the country is seen as one of the deadliest attacks since the junta seized power in a coup two years ago. According to CNN, 50 people were hurt during the strike, the Kyunhla activist group said, which was there. At least 20 children were killed.
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Although there have been no additional strikes, military jets have continued to fly over the town, preventing first responders and medical professionals from reaching the attack site, according to Aung Myo Min, who told CNN.
Sagaing region — near the country’s second-largest city, Mandalay — has put up some of the fiercest resistance to the military’s rule, with intense fighting raging there for months.
Reacting to the incident, UN rights chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday he was “horrified” by the deadly air strikes, whose victims he said included schoolchildren performing dances, with the global body calling for those responsible to be brought to justice.
Photos from the village being shared on social media showed more than a dozen burned and mutilated bodies, while videos showed a destroyed building, burned motorcycles and debris scattered over a wide area. Rescuers at the scene confirmed the authenticity of the images with The New York Times.
The apparent target of the attack was a celebration to mark the local resistance movement’s opening of an administration office. Only the charred frame of the building remained standing after the air raid, a video and photos showed.
Myanmar’s military, which has battled armed ethnic groups for territorial control since soon after independence in 1948, has a long history of brutal attacks on civilians.
Last month, Myanmar’s military abolished 40 political parties, including the National League for Democracy.
Myanmar’s military-controlled election commission said that the ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party will be dissolved for failing to re-register under a new electoral law.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) party was among 40 political parties that were unable to meet the ruling military’s registration deadline for an election.
Earlier in January, the Myanmar military gave two months to political parties to register under a strict new electoral law before fresh elections which they have promised to hold. However, the opponents have said that the elections will neither be free nor fair. The NLD has said it would not contest in the elections and called it illegitimate.
In November 2020, the NLD secured victory in Myanmar’s parliamentary elections. However, less than three months later, the Myanmar military carried out a coup and imprisoned Aung San Suu Kyi. She is serving a prison sentence which totals 33 years. As per the news report, Aung San Suu Kyi has been convicted in a series of politically tainted prosecutions brought by the military.
Myanmar oppn urges global action
Opposition leaders in Myanmar have called on the international community to take action against the military junta following the latest airstrike in the Sagaing province that claimed the lives of at least 133 civilians, including women and children.
According to The Hindu report, the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), a group consisting of opposition parties and ethnic groups opposed to the junta, accused the military rulers of committing war crimes.
The NUCC reported that a fighter jet from Tada-U Airport bombed the civilian population in Pazigyi village in Kanbalu township in Sagaing region on April 11, 2023, followed by two rocket and machine gun attacks from an MI35 from North-Western Command just five minutes later, resulting in the deaths of the innocent civilians.
The NUCC fears that the Myanmar military may carry out more airstrikes against civilians in Chin, Kachin, and Sagaing regions.
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