INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION
Myanmar’s lightly armed opposition fighters have no effective defences against the military’s air force.
In October, a military jet attacked a concert, killing at least 50 civilians, singers and members of an ethnic minority insurgent force in Kachin State in the north.
Kyaw Zaw, a spokesman for the NUG, said air force jets dropped bombs on villagers and helicopter gunships then followed up, calling it “another senseless, barbaric, brutal attack by the military”.
“We… share the great pain felt by the families affected by this tragedy,” NUG said in a statement.
The military denies accusations it has committed atrocities against civilians and says it is fighting “terrorists” determined to destabilise the country.
UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and reiterated “his call for the military to end the campaign of violence against the Myanmar population throughout the country”, according to a statement from his spokesperson.
Washington also denounced the “reprehensible” attack.
“We strongly condemn the regime’s air strikes and urge the regime to cease the violence,” US State Department Counselor Derek Chollet tweeted.
Human Rights Watch Asia division deputy director Phil Robertson said the strike was likely to have a chilling effect across Myanmar society.
“I think this will cause greater fear amongst the people,” he told AFP.
“I think in the future, communities will be reluctant to hold a … mass gathering of any sort, recognising that they could be bombed, they could be attacked.”
The attack came as Myanmar was preparing to mark the Buddhist new year – Thingyan – which begins Thursday and traditionally involves public water fights, but celebrations are expected to be muted.
“As the people of Myanmar celebrate their New Year, the EU is deeply shocked by reports of the latest atrocity committed by the military regime in Sagaing, taking the lives of dozens of innocent civilians,” EU foreign affairs spokesperson Nabila Massrali said.
The military’s crackdown on dissent following the February 2021 coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government has left more than 3,200 people dead, according to a local monitoring group.
Sagaing region – near the country’s second-largest city of Mandalay – has put up some of the fiercest resistance to the military’s rule, with intense fighting raging there for months.