Burma: what is known about the bombing of dozens of civilians by the military junta?

Dozens of people, up to a hundred depending on sources, including children, were killed on Tuesday when the Burmese army fired on the actions of the national unity government (NUG), which declares itself the legitimate authority of Burma. (Myanmar) after the 2021 coup, in the Sagain region (northwest).

The Burmese Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) bombed the opening ceremony of the GUU-affiliated administrative office in the town of Pasiji, in Sagayn (one of the main rebel strongholds in the country) early on Tuesday morning, followed by another attack. In the afternoon, during search and rescue operations in the area, there was an attack by fighters, a spokesman for the organization said.

“They held an opening ceremony and, following the tradition, distributed food to people, so the event attracted many children,” a spokesman for the NAG, who wished to remain anonymous, said from the site, adding that the death toll, originally estimated at no less than 50 people, is difficult to know. as many of the bodies were mutilated.

As stated EFE According to a NUG spokesman, militants again bombed the city while volunteers searched for survivors in the ruins and removed lifeless bodies.

They take responsibility for the explosion

This Wednesday, the Burmese military junta admitted responsibility for an air strike against the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), an opposition movement made up mostly of youth in 2021.

“Probably civilians who were forced to support them also died,” said coup regime general Zav Ming Tun, who branded the PDF as “terrorists” in line with military rhetoric.

“We attacked during the inauguration ceremony. Members of the PDF were killed. They are the ones who oppose the government of this country,” Head Ming Tong told the military-owned propaganda network.

Escalation of military violence

This is one of the bloodiest attacks in history since the army carried out a coup on February 1, 2021, ending a decade of democratic transition and bringing down Burma in a spiral of violence and semi-anarchy, with the military controlling barely a quarter of the country.

A spokesman for the IUG compared the scale of the attack to an airstrike carried out in October during a music festival in the north of the country to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), an ethnic group of the same name, and its allies. NUG, which he claims killed about 80 people.

The attack is in line with rants by junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing on March 27, when he warned that he would “resolutely pacify” the resistance by focusing on the NAG, partly made up of former MPs. the overthrown civil government of Aung San Suu Kyi and the PDF.

Escalation of violence by the Army Burma (Tatmadaw), who has been charged with crimes against humanity by the UN for his attacks on the Rohingya minority, agrees with information from the field that ensures that he has failed to control more than a quarter of the country since the coup.

The PDF, mostly young women who left their lives to train in armed struggle against ethnic minority guerrillas who fought the army for decades, perfected their combat skills in the surprise turn of the Tatmadaw, who, according to experts, further increased their combat skills. correspondingly cruel methods.

The international community, including the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, condemned the Sagayn attack, one of the worst massacres since the coup that ended a decade of democratic transition and plunged the country into a spiral of violence. anarchy.

UN Rapporteur on Burma, Thomas Andrews, condemned in March that more than 3,000 civilians were killed, 1.3 million were forced to leave their homes and 16,000 became political prisoners after the coup, including Suu Kyi. (As reported by EFE)

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Fernando Carvallo selects information and shares his vision of national and international news. subscribe to our mailing list