Myanmar’s military junta has confirmed it carried out an airstrike that left dozens dead in a village in the center of the country in a rebel-held area.
“There was an opening ceremony of a People’s Defense Force (PDF) office… [mardi] morning around 8 am in the village of Pazi Gyi. We attacked this place,” confirmed junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.
He said some of the dead were anti-coup fighters in uniform and he acknowledged “there could be people wearing civilian clothes”.
“According to the information we have obtained on the ground, the people killed are not just because of our attack. There were mines planted by the PDFs around this area,” he said, adding that the airstrike also hit a gunpowder and mine storage area.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said he was “horrified” after the attack and the world body called for those responsible to be brought to justice.
“It seems that children who were dancing, along with other civilians, during the opening ceremony of a center in Pazi Gyi village, Kanbalu district, were among the victims,” Turk said. in a press release.
At least 50 dead and dozens injured have been reported by BBC Burmese, The Irrawaddy and Radio Free Asia, but the death toll could rise to 100 according to a rescue worker from an armed rebel group contacted by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Before military aircraft strafed the village of Pazi Gyi, dozens of residents had gathered to mark the opening of a Local Defense Force office.
The Sagaing region, near Mandalay, the country’s second largest city, is fiercely resisting the junta, and intense fighting has been going on there for months.