100 Dead in Airstrike on Anti-government Held Region, Myanmar Junta Confirms Attack

Naypyidaw: At least 100 people were killed in an early Tuesday morning airstrike carried by the Myanmar’s junta. The airstrike was carried out by the ruling junta on a remote Kanbalu township in the central Sagaing region triggering global condemnation. 

Initial reports said 50 people were killed in the attack but later an independent media reported that there were 100 casualties including many children. Some reports said there were 150 people in the opening ceremony. 

A fighter jet dropped bombs on people who had gathered for the opening of a local office of the country’s opposition movement outside Pazigyi village, a witness told the Associated Press. He added that besides the leaders of anti-government armed groups and other opposition organisations, there were some women and 20-30 children among the dead. 

The military government’s spokesperson Zaw Min Tun confirmed the news that the ceremony had been attacked. He said that among those killed were anti-government fighters in uniform, though ‘there could be some people with civilian clothes’. 

Meanwhile, UN rights chief Volker Turk condemned the attack and accused Myanmar's junta of disregarding ‘clear legal obligations... to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities’. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the attack by the Myanmar military. 

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(With agencies inputs)