Burmese junta forces launched airstrikes against a village in the country’s northwest on Sunday, killing at least 20 civilians, including children, and injuring several others.
A Free Burma Rangers (FBR) spokesperson told The Epoch Times that military jets dropped bombs on Kanan Village in Sagaing region’s Khampat town, just south of the Indian border, on Jan. 7.
At least 17 villagers, including nine children, were killed and 11 others were “severely injured” in the attack that targeted a primary school, according to the humanitarian relief organization. FBR initially reported the number of casualties was 20.
The Epoch Times couldn’t independently confirm the figures.
“After a column of Burma Army troops trying to enter nearby Khampat Village was repelled by Chin People’s Defense Forces, two fighter jets targeted Kanan primary school, the school’s playgrounds, and the surrounding area,” the FBR spokesperson stated in an email.
Injured civilians were rushed to safety, with many suffering “lost limbs, internal injuries, head trauma, and severe burns,” FBR stated.
The school sustained “heavy damage,” and several homes were destroyed in the attack. The military junta has reportedly denied it was responsible for the attack.
Burma, also known as Myanmar, has been plunged into turmoil since the military junta ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in a February 2021 coup, with violence flaring in several regions as opposition groups clash with the junta.
Sagaing region, near the border with India, has been a stronghold of armed resistance. A district capital and two small towns, including Khampat, have been seized in the past few months by a coalition of resistance forces and the Kachin Independence Army, one of the stronger ethnic rebel groups.
The military stepped up airstrikes after an alliance of three ethnic minority armed groups in late October launched a major offensive, seizing towns in the country’s northeast, along with major border crossings for trade with China.
‘Excessive Force in Aerial Attacks’
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an exile group that monitors human rights in Burma, said the junta has employed “excessive force in aerial attacks” on various locations in recent weeks.
“These attacks have led to civilian deaths, casualties, and the destruction of houses, schools, and religious buildings,” AAPP stated in its Jan. 8 report.
The military junta also “issued threats of launching offensives, using heavy weaponry, and setting villages on fire,” the group said.
“Consequently, approximately 20,000 locals from villages in Sittwe Township and Ponnagyun Township have evacuated for safety.
“Additionally, the junta’s blockade of land and naval access has resulted in the deaths of individuals with poor health, including pregnant women,” it added.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has voiced “deep concern” over the worsening situation in Burma, where more than 2 million people have been displaced.
Mr. Guterres called on all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law and “do their utmost to protect civilians,” U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement on Nov. 15, 2023.
More than 4,296 people have died at the hands of the military and pro-military groups as of Jan. 8, according to AAPP. A total of 25,779 people have been arrested by the junta. The group keeps detailed tallies of arrests and casualties linked to the nation’s political conflicts.
