After the devastating air attack by junta forces on a village in Myanmar with dozens of dead, there is horror in the crisis-ridden country. “We can’t say exactly how many dead there are, but it’s at least 90 or 100,” said an eyewitness who reached Pazigyi municipality after the attack.
“At least 50 other people are seriously injured and are being treated in hospital.” The number of victims could continue to rise because of the severity of the injuries, the man said.
The military suddenly fired rockets at the site in the central Saigang region yesterday morning as an opening ceremony for a new office of the anti-junta People’s Defense Forces was held there. The participants had just been eating, including at least 20 children, said the eyewitness. The attack lasted about 15 minutes.
Human rights activists: brutality “trademark” of the military
The bodies of 53 victims were recovered relatively intact, but many of the dead had been torn into many pieces. It is therefore difficult to determine the exact number of victims. “When we wanted to recover the bodies in the evening, they launched another air raid. I have no words for how brutally the junta is treating civilians,” said the man from the German Press Agency on the phone.
Recently there had been fighting in the region between the military and armed groups who are resisting the junta. Generals seized power in former Burma in February 2021. The then Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested and sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for alleged crimes. The military takes brutal action against all opponents.
“Unlawful airstrikes, killing and injuring civilians and destroying homes, are a hallmark of the Myanmar military, which is making despicable efforts to crush resistance and instill fear in the population,” Amnesty International’s Montse Ferrer said. She spoke of “disgusting tactics” and called on the international community to halt jet fuel supplies to the country and to do more to stop the junta’s attacks.
