The ruling junta of Myanmar confirmed Tuesday’s air strike on a village in which at least 100 people, including many children and journalists, were slain. People congregated for the inauguration of a local office of the country’s opposition movement outside Pazigyi village in the Kanbalu township of the Sagaing region.
A witness told The Associated Press that at approximately 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, a fighter aircraft dropped bombs directly onto a gathering of approximately 150 people. Among the deceased, he said, were women and 20 to 30 children, as well as leaders of locally formed anti-government armed groups and other opposition organizations.
The Burmese junta revealed that it bombed a hamlet, killing at least 100 people, including children and reporters.
He added that approximately thirty minutes after the initial assault, a helicopter appeared and opened fire on the site.
The precise number of fatalities is unknown because the military administration restricts reporting.
Tuesday night, the Myanmar junta verified the assault and stated, “We attacked that location.” A representative of the military administration stated, “Tuesday morning at 8 a.m., there was an inauguration ceremony for a (People’s Defence Force) office in the Pazi Gyi village. In opposition to the army, the People’s Defence Force is the armed branch of the National Unity Government, which claims to be the country’s legitimate administration.
The spokesperson stated that some of those slain were uniformed anti-coup fighters, although “there could be some individuals in civilian attire.” According to an AFP report, he also attributed mines planted by the People’s Defense Force for some of the fatalities.
General Antonio Guterres repeated his call for the Myanmar military to end its atrocities against civilians.
The United Nations firmly condemned the attack, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterating his demand that the Myanmar military ceases its campaign of violence against the civilian population. Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the United States Department of State, stated that such “violent attacks” demonstrate the “regime’s disregard for human life and its accountability for the catastrophic political and humanitarian crisis” in the country.
The opposition National Unity Government also referred to the attack as a “heinous act by the terrorist military” and described it as an act of terrorism “Another instance of their indiscriminate use of excessive force against innocent civilians, which constitutes a war crime.” Tuesday’s opening was a part of the organization’s administrative network.
