Myanmar’s military junta has carried out separate airstrikes targeting a wedding and a prayer gathering, killing at least 27 civilians, including women and children, and injuring many more, according to local armed groups and human rights monitors cited by The Irrawaddy.
On Thursday evening, a prayer event in Koung Jar village, Bhamo Township, Kachin State, came under attack. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) reported that at least 22 people were killed and 28 others injured, including children.
The village primarily shelters displaced families affected by ongoing conflict and lies across the Irrawaddy River near Bhamo town. Locals had gathered in a compound to prepare a memorial prayer for a deceased elder when the airstrike struck.
Multiple videos circulated on social media show the aftermath, with bodies of men and women scattered across the compound and inside homes. Some victims were reportedly severely dismembered.
KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu emphasized that there were no KIA positions or members in the targeted village, accusing the junta of deliberately attacking civilians indiscriminately, including crowds in schools and other gatherings. “The military makes no distinction between enemy and civilians,” he said.
Earlier the same day, in Tat Kone village, Aunglan Township, Magway Region, an airstrike struck a wedding preparation, killing at least five people, including a child, according to local monitoring group Aunglan Information Group.
The violence intensified on Tuesday evening, when the junta also bombed a prison operated by the Arakan Army (AA) in border areas of Kyauk Taw and Ponnagyun Townships, Rakhine State, killing 21 detained soldiers and their relatives and injuring at least 30 others.
Human rights analysts have warned that the continued airstrikes by Myanmar’s military are worsening the security situation for civilians and raising serious concerns over widespread human rights violations.
Source: The Irrawaddy.