Dozens of people are dead, including civilians, after Myanmar’s ruling military government launched an attack on a rebel group’s event in the middle of the country, multiple Southeast Asian-based news outlets reported early Tuesday morning.
It was an aerial attack by Myanmar’s military government (junta) on the Pazigyi village in the Kanbalu Township in central/northwest Myanmar, according to the Irrawaddy and BBC Burmese. The latter news source said the death toll could rise as high as 100 as search and rescue operations continue and with many more people injured.
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Residents reportedly told the Irrawaddy that the junta, led by Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, dropped two bombs on the village and used a helicopter to fire more weapons as 100 people “attended the opening of a People’s Authority Office.” The area is reportedly a stronghold for opposition to the ruling military government, per Al Jazeera.
In February 2021, Myanmar’s military forces took control of the country in a coup, overthrowing then-leader Aung San Suu Kyi and detaining her, among other politicians. She was elected to be the leader of the country the year before in a landslide.
Suu Kyi’s arrest sparked international backlash. She previously spent just under 15 years in military prison and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for trying to bring democracy to Myanmar, a country that for decades has predominantly been ruled by military forces. Following Suu Kyi’s arrest, detainment, and charges, deemed political in nature by many rights groups, protests and violence across the country ensued.
A government airstrike on a celebration among the Christian Kachin people last October killed dozens of people, mainly civilians, according to Kachin sources.
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About 18 million people in Myanmar, nearly 1/3 of the population, are estimated to be in humanitarian need, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Heavy fighting continues in many parts of the country, creating new humanitarian needs and further restricting the movement of people and goods.
In 2023, 17.6M people, nearly 1/3 of the population, are estimated to be in humanitarian need.
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— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) April 7, 2023
“Heavy fighting continues in many parts of the country, generating new humanitarian needs and further restricting the movement of goods and people,” the office stated late last week, adding that much of the threats to the safety of civilians are in the country’s northwest, not far from the Kanbulu Township where the airstrike reportedly occurred Tuesday.
