Myanmar’s military launched aerial attacks on a central region known to be a bastion of opposition to the coup carried out two years ago.

A local monitoring group reports that over 3,200 civilians have lost their lives and more than 21,300 have been detained following the 2021 coup .
(Reuters Archive)

Dozens of people in coup-hit Myanmar’s central region have been killed in air strikes, according to local media reports.

The death toll from the early Tuesday morning strike on the remote Kantbalu township in Sagaing region is unclear.

The Sagaing region – near the second-largest city Mandalay – has put up some of the fiercest resistance to the military’s rule, with intense fighting raging for months.

At least 50 fatalities and dozens wounded were reported by several local and international news outlets.

Graphic video circulating on social media purportedly of the attack show bodies scattered among the ruins of homes. “We are going to rescue you if we hear you screaming,” one person could be heard saying in the video. “Please scream!”

A rescuer – connected to an anti-coup People’s Defence Force group – told AFP news agency that women and children were among the dead.

After recovering bodies and transporting victims for medical treatment, he estimated the death toll could be up to 100. 

Before military aircraft strafed Pazi Gyi village, scores of locals had gathered to mark the opening of a local defence force office.

Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow body dominated by former lawmakers from ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, condemned the strike as a “heinous act”.

“We… share the great pain felt by the families affected by this tragedy,” the NUG said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the United Nations Special Envoy to Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, said agencies were trying to verify the reports.

READ MORE: Thousands flee Myanmar into Thailand amid clashes between military, rebels

Country in chaos

Myanmar has been in chaos and its economy in tatters since the military seized power in February 2021.

The military, which accuses anti-coup fighters of being terrorists, has faced international condemnation for razing villages, mass killings and air strikes on civilians.

More than 30 people sheltering in a monastery were killed in Shan state in March.

Last year, a military air strike on a concert put on by the Kachin Independence Army in northern Kachin state killed around 50 people and wounded more than 70, the rebels said.

At a military parade last month, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing vowed to continue cracking down on opponents.

The military last month announced a six-month extension of a state of emergency and postponed elections it had promised to hold by August because it did not control enough of the country for a vote.

More than 3,200 civilians have been killed and more than 21,300 arrested since the coup, according to a local monitoring group.

READ MORE: Thailand forces push back people fleeing Myanmar air attacks

Source: AFP

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