A Buddhist festival in Myanmar became a scene of horror this week when the ruling military junta reportedly launched an aerial bombing, claiming the lives of at least two dozen people and leaving many more wounded. This devastating account comes from an eyewitness and Myanmar’s civilian government in exile.
Reports indicate that a manned paraglider, equipped with a motor, dropped a bomb on Monday evening. The festival was not only a religious observance but also served as a protest against the junta’s authoritarian rule. A second witness corroborated the account of a paraglider carrying out the strike.
The attack took place in Chaung U township, located in the Sagaing region. Approximately 100 individuals had gathered in an open field after sunset for a candlelit event, part of a Buddhist festival of lights. Witnesses, who requested anonymity due to fears of retaliation, described the tragic event.
Myanmar is currently engulfed in a brutal civil war, a conflict that has already claimed tens of thousands of lives and forced millions more to flee their homes. Notably, the specific area targeted on Monday was not an active battlefield between military forces and rebel groups.
According to the first witness and Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the National Unity Government (Myanmar’s civilian government in exile), at least 24 people were killed and 40 others injured in the Monday attack. Amnesty International, a prominent human rights organization, reported a slightly different toll, stating 18 dead and 45 critically injured.
Among those who lost their lives on Monday evening was a member of the Sagaing Region Strike Forces, a resistance group actively opposing the military government, as confirmed by the group in an official statement.
As of Wednesday evening, Myanmar’s military had not released any official statement regarding the attack. The junta, which has governed Myanmar for over half a century in total, seized power in 2021. This coup ended a brief period of civilian-led democracy and ignited the ongoing civil war.
The Sagaing region, situated in northwestern Myanmar near the country’s second-largest city, Mandalay, has been a hotly contested area between the military and resistance groups in recent months. This intensified conflict comes as the junta makes preparations to conduct an election in December. However, independent observers have expressed concerns that the election will lack fairness, citing the disqualification of numerous opposition parties by the junta and their subsequent plans to boycott the polls.
Joe Freeman, a Myanmar researcher for Amnesty International, has observed a recent surge in military efforts to reclaim lost territory through various attacks. He suggests that the junta’s actions may be an attempt to expand the number of areas where voting can credibly take place, aiming to enhance the election’s legitimacy.
Pro-democracy groups and various ethnic rebel factions maintain control over significant parts of the Southeast Asian nation, particularly in border regions adjacent to China, India, and Thailand. Despite this, the military has managed to regain control of certain smaller territories in these regions over the past year. Most of Sagaing, which shares a border with India, remains a contested zone.
Over the last year, the military has occasionally deployed motorized paragliders, referred to as paramotors. These aircraft are capable of carrying up to three passengers along with mortar rounds, as detailed in a recent report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. This U.N. report also indicates that civilian areas in Sagaing, Rakhine State, and Chin State have been targeted by paraglider attacks.
Many residents in Myanmar have learned to quickly seek shelter upon hearing the distinct, loud engine of a paraglider, which often sounds like a chain saw. This crucial survival tactic was highlighted in an April report by Amnesty International.
However, on Monday evening in Chaung U, those attending the candlelit event did not hear the approaching paramotor in time. Prayers were being broadcast loudly over a loudspeaker, obscuring the sound, according to the first witness.
The gathering was held, in part, to observe Thadingyut, a significant Buddhist festival marking Buddha’s return from heaven. Traditionally, homes and streets throughout Myanmar are adorned with lanterns and candles, and families gather to pray in Buddhist pagodas under the glow of a full moon.
The first witness reported that attendees were also using the event as an opportunity to protest against the upcoming election, the ongoing military rule, and the forced conscription policies.
The bombing occurred around 7 p.m., with the paraglider reportedly targeting the very center of the assembled crowd, as stated by the first witness. Both witnesses tragically confirmed that young children, teenagers, and teachers were among those killed.
A subsequent paraglider attack occurred in the same vicinity four hours later. This second strike reportedly destroyed a school building but, fortunately, did not directly cause any casualties, according to the first witness.