An overnight airstrike on a Buddhist monastery in Myanmar’s central Sagaing region has killed at least 23 people, including four children, who were seeking refuge within the compound.
Separate sources confirmed the casualties on Friday, following the aerial attack on Lin Ta Lu village.
The assault, which occurred around 1 am, also left approximately 30 others injured, with 10 reported to be in critical condition.
A member of a resistance group, speaking anonymously to The Associated Press, said that a jet fighter dropped a bomb on a building within the village’s monastery.
More than 150 individuals from nearby villages had been sheltering at the monastery, having sought safety there to avoid the escalating fighting in the region over recent weeks.
Myanmar’s independent Democratic Voice of Burma online media reported that the death toll could be as high as 30. That could not be immediately confirmed.
The military did not immediately comment on the incident at the monastery, which is located about 35 km (20 miles) northwest of Mandalay, the country’s second largest city.
In the past, the army has said it only attacks legitimate targets of war, accusing the resistance forces of being terrorists.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering a civil war.
After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.
The military has increasingly used airstrikes to counter opposition forces, including the armed People’s Defense Forces in Sagaing region, a stronghold of armed resistance. The resistance has no effective defense against air attacks.
Map: Lin Ta Lu village
The monastery attack comes weeks after hundreds of soldiers took part in an offensive with tanks and various aircraft in an area about five kilometers (three miles) from Lin Ta Lu to regain territories controlled by the resistance groups.
Thousands of people from nearby villages were displaced to the other towns and villages including Lin Ta Lu, the resistance fighter said.
Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the opposition’s National Unity Government, told the AP that the military regime has been trying to retake areas controlled by the resistance ahead of a planned general election later this year.
The poll is widely seen as an attempt to normalize the military’s seizure of power through the ballot box and to deliver a result that ensures the generals retain control.
