Myanmar junta used ‘vacuum bomb’ on village in April, Human Rights Watch says

Myanmar’s military junta used a “vacuum bomb” in an airstrike on a village that killed at least 170 people in April, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday (May 9). A “vacuum bomb”, or thermobaric, is a weapon that generates two explosions: the first spreads a gas and the second ignites it, creating a large ball of fire that sucks all the oxygen in the area and generates a very strong shock wave.

According to the NGO, the Burmese junta used this type of bomb during an air raid on the village of Pazi Gyi, in the center of the country, on April 11. Human Rights Watch said it relied on 59 photos of the bodies of victims and a video of the impact site to conclude that a vacuum bomb was used, a weapon not banned by military conventions international.

Its explosion caused “disproportionate civilian casualties (…) and is an apparent war crime”believes the organization, which calls on the UN Security Council to impose an embargo on Burma, to bring the junta before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and to pronounce financial sanctions against it.

The junta confirmed that it was behind the strike, but maintained that it targeted a gathering of armed opponents. “The people killed are not just because of our attack”also said a spokesman for the ruling junta, noting “mines” planted by opponents around the area.