Myanmar Military Regime Admits Attack On Civil Resistance Group: Death Toll Reaches 100

Zaw Min Tun (right) together with officials of the Myanmar military regime when giving a press statement. (Wikimedia Commons/VOA Burmese)

JAKARTA - Myanmar's military regime confirmed it carried out attacks on civil resistance groups, saying if there were civilian casualties that fell, it was because they were forced to help terrorists.

At least 100 people were killed, including children, as a result of airstrikes in Myanmar's northwest Sagaing area on Tuesday according to media reports, making it the deadliest in a series of recent military airstrikes.

Military regime spokesman Zaw Min Tun told Myawaddy military broadcast channel late Tuesday an attack on an event hosted by the Government of National Unity (NUG), a shadow government, for their armed People's Defense Forces (PDF), aimed at restoring peace and stability in the region.

"During the opening ceremony, we carried out an attack. PDF members were killed. Those who oppose the state government, the people of the country," Zaw Min Tun said.

"According to field information, we hit their weapons storage area and it exploded and people died because of it," he said.

Regarding allegations of casualties among civilians, he said, some people who were forced to support them may also die".

Zaw Min Tun said the photos showed some of those killed in uniform and some in civilian dress, accusing PDF of wrongly claiming the death of civilians when their troops were killed.

He also accused PDF members of committing "war crimes" by killing "majorists, teachers and innocent residents" in areas that did not support the opposition.

Separately, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned airstrikes in Sagaing, calling on those responsible for being held accountable, his spokesman said, adding that Guterres "reaffirmed his call to the military to end a campaign of violence against Myanmar's citizens across the country".

Meanwhile, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk condemned the attack in a message, before the junta's comments were widely reported, saying "it appears that school children who are dancing, as well as other civilians... are among the victims".

As previously reported, citing residents in the region, BBC Burma, Radio Free Asia (RFA) Burma and news portal Irrawaddy reported between 80 and 100 people, including civilians, were killed in the military attack. According to PDF members, about 100 bodies, including 16 children, have been cremated.

"The exact number of victims who died is still unclear because... body parts are scattered everywhere," said the PDF member who declined to be named.

Meanwhile, Kyaw Zaw, a NUG spokesman, said it was believed nearly 100 people were killed in Tuesday's attack, when air force jets dropped bombs on villagers and combat helicopters and then followed up, calling them "unreasonable, barbaric, and brutal military attacks".

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup in 2021, ending a decade of tentative reforms that include civilian rule led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Some opponents of military rule have taken up arms, in several places joining ethnic minority rebels, and the military has responded with heavy air and weapons attacks, including in civilian areas.

However, Myanmar's lightly armed opposition fighters have no effective defense against the military air force.