At least 24 people were killed and 47 injured in central Myanmar after the military used a motorised paraglider to drop two bombs on a crowd marking a national holiday, according to the opposition government-in-exile.
The attack took place Monday evening in Chaung U township, Sagaing region, where around 100 people had gathered for the Thadingyut full moon festival. The candlelight vigil was also a peaceful protest against military conscription, the planned national elections, and to demand the release of political prisoners including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Witnesses described a scene of devastation. “Children were completely torn apart,” one organiser told AFP, adding that funerals were still underway as body parts were being collected.
A local People’s Defence Force (PDF) official said they had received warnings of a possible airborne assault and tried to disperse the crowd, but the paramotor strike came earlier than expected. “It all happened in seven minutes,” he said, describing how he was injured in the blast while people near him were killed.
The Sagaing region has been a focal point of resistance to military rule, with volunteer militias administering large areas outside army control. Since the 2021 coup, thousands have died and millions have been displaced in a civil war that has seen ethnic militias and PDFs rise against the junta.
The military, which had lost control of more than half the country, has regained ground in recent months through a brutal campaign of airstrikes and bombardment. Rights groups say the junta has increasingly used paragliders for attacks as aircraft and fuel supplies run short, while new drones from China and technical support from Russia have bolstered its firepower.
Amnesty International condemned the Chaung U bombing as part of a “disturbing trend” and urged ASEAN, the Southeast Asian regional bloc, to ramp up pressure on Myanmar’s rulers. “This should serve as a gruesome wake-up call that civilians in Myanmar need urgent protection,” said Amnesty researcher Joe Freeman.
Myanmar is due to hold general elections in December — the first since the coup — but critics say the vote will be neither free nor fair, with many opposition parties banned and polling likely confined to areas under military control.
[Source: BBC News]