April 12th 2023
Children 'among 100 dead' as Myanmar military targets village event
by Sky News
Myanmar's military has confirmed it carried out an airstrike on a village event as part of an attack which is thought to have killed up to 100 people, including children.
The Sagaing area in northwest Myanmar was targeted in what is feared to have been the deadliest in a recent wave of strikes by the military. Opponents of the regime described the attack as "senseless and brutal".
UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk condemned the attack, saying it "appears schoolchildren performing dances, as well as other civilians... were among the victims".
Military officials said if innocent civilians had been killed, then it was because they were being "forced to support terrorists".
Kyaw Zaw, a spokesman for the National Unity Government (NUG), an opposing shadow administration, said it believed nearly 100 people were killed when jets dropped bombs on villagers ahead of an attack by helicopter gunships as part of "another senseless, barbaric, brutal attack by the military".
The junta seized power in 2021, ending a decade of reforms which included a civilian government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Some opponents of military rule have taken up arms, while the military has responded with airstrikes and the use of heavy weapons.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Tuesday's strikes and repeated his call for the military to "end the campaign of violence against the Myanmar population throughout the country".
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told military broadcast channel Myawaddy the attack was carried out on a ceremony held by the NUG.
The event was said to have been in support of the NUG's armed wing, the People's Defence Force (PDF)
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