BANGKOK – An airstrike by Myanmar’s military on a village in the country’s central Sagaing region hit a school on Monday, killing as many as 20 students and two teachers, according to a member of a resistance group, an aid worker and media reports.
The morning attack on Ohe Htein Twin village in the region’s Tabayin township, also known as Depayin, also wounded dozens of students, they said.
Recommended Videos
State-run MRTV television denied the reports of the airstrike on Monday evening's news broadcast, saying subversive media outlets were intentionally spreading fake news.
The military has increasingly used airstrikes to counter a widespread armed struggle against its rule, which began in February 2021 when it seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. More than 6,600 civilians are estimated to have been killed by security forces since then, according to figures compiled by nongovernmental organizations.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern at reports of the airstrike on the school in a region impacted by a recent earthquake. He said that “even in times of armed conflict, schools must be protected,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
“The reported incident occurred despite the Myanmar military announcing the extension of its ceasefire until May 31 to facilitate the relief efforts due to the earthquake,” Dujarric said. “Reports of attacks, including in Sagaing and other areas impacted by the March 28 earthquakes, add further to the already immense suffering of people in Myanmar, where over one-third of the country requires humanitarian aid.”
A member of the White Depeyin People's Defence Force resistance group fighting against army rule told The Associated Press that a fighter jet dropped a bomb directly onto a school, where many students from primary to high school levels were studying after 9 a.m. The area is about 115 kilometers (70 miles) northwest of Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city.
The resistance fighter, who rushed to the site of the attack to help the victims, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was afraid of being arrested by the military. He said that 20 students and two teachers were killed in the attack on the school, which is operated by the country’s pro-democracy movement, and about 50 others were wounded. Three nearby houses were damaged.
He also said that there had been no recent fighting in the area, though Sagaing is a stronghold of the resistance.
Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the opposition’s National Unity Government, told the AP that he received the same information on the number of casualties, and that the death toll could rise. The organization is the main opposition group coordinating resistance to military rule.
He accused the military of deliberately attacking civilians in monasteries, refugee camps, schools and hospitals, with the excuse that resistance fighters were sheltering at such sites, though this was not the case and the bombings were intended to alienate the people from the resistance movement.
The military's denial of the attack on state television cited an unnamed local official saying that security forces were working only to maintain peace in the area and not bombing nonmilitary targets, while terrorists were shelling and launching drone attacks at townships and villages that didn't support them.
The death tolls from Monday's bombing reported by independent Myanmar media ranged from 17 to more than 20. A volunteer in Tabayin assisting displaced people who asked not to be identified because of fear of government reprisals said he received the information from the ground that 12 students were confirmed dead and around 30-50 others were wounded.
Sagaing region, near the border with India, has been a stronghold of armed resistance, and the military in recent years has stepped up airstrikes against the local pro-democracy People's Defense Forces. The resistance has no effective defense against air attacks.
In September 2022, aerial attacks by the military’s helicopters against a school and village in Let Yet Kone village in the same township, killed at least 13 people, including seven children.
Airstrikes in April 2023 airstrikes killed as many as 160 people, including many children, who were attending a ceremony held by opponents of army rule outside Pazigyi village in Sagaing region’s Kanbalu township.
Airstrikes in Myanmar garnered increased attention recently when numerous reports deemed credible by the United Nations and human rights groups said that they continued to be carried out in the wake of Myanmar's devastating March 28 earthquake, after which the military and resistance groups declared ceasefires to facilitate relief efforts.
___
Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.