Junta airstrike kills at least 32 at Buddhist festival in Myanmar: Report

SAGAING (MNTV) – At least 32 people were killed and more than 50 others wounded when Myanmar’s junta forces bombed a Buddhist festival in the country’s northwestern Sagaing Region, local media outlet The Irrawaddy reported Tuesday.

The deadly attack took place Monday during the Lighting Festival, a major Buddhist celebration marking the full moon of Thadingyut, when people light candles to honor the Buddha’s descent from heaven.

Witnesses said junta paragliders dropped bombs on an anti-regime candlelight vigil near a village in Chaung-U Township, striking a crowd of civilians and local resistance members.

“To my knowledge, 32 people were killed, including five from the local resistance who protect the area. The rest are civilians,” a resident told The Irrawaddy.

He said several children were among the dead and injured, and that the explosion scattered victims’ remains, making identification difficult.

Minutes after the initial blast, two more bombs were dropped at the same site, causing further casualties.

Sagaing Region has been a stronghold of resistance to military rule since the junta seized power in a 2021 coup, toppling the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The area has seen some of the heaviest aerial bombardments in the junta’s campaign against anti-coup forces.

Human rights groups have repeatedly accused the military of targeting civilians and using indiscriminate airstrikes to suppress dissent, with the UN warning that such attacks may constitute war crimes.