Over 20 civilians, including children, killed in airstrike on Buddhist monastery in Myanmar

More than 20 civilians, including children, were killed after a recent air strike on a monastery in central Myanmar, an anti-junta fighter and a resident told newsagency AFP Saturday, i.e., July 12. Myanmar has been witnessing civil war since the military dethroned a democratic government in 2021. 

Central Sagaing region has been particularly hard-hit, with the junta pummelling villages with air strikes targeting armed groups, said the report, adding that the most recent incident occurred around 1:00 a.m on Friday, i.e., July 11, in Lin Ta Lu village when "the monastery hall where internally displaced people were staying" was hit with an air strike, said an anti-junta fighter, on the condition of anonymity. 

He told AFP that 22 people were killed, including three children, while two were wounded and remained in critical condition at the hospital. "They had thought it was safe to stay at a Buddhist monastery," the anti-junta fighter said. "But they were bombed anyway."

Moreover, a local resident stated that the monastery hall was "completely destroyed" and that he saw some bodies loaded into a car and transported to a cemetery at dawn on Friday following the strike. "Many of the bodies had head wounds or were torn apart. It was sad to see," he said. 

When Sagaing region was hit by earthquake 

The Sagaing region was the epicentre of a devatating magnitude 7.7 earthquake in March, which had killed nearly 3,800 people, leaving thousands homeless. Following the quake, there was a purported truce between the junta and armed groups. However, air strikes and fighting have continued.