The Southeast Asian nation Myanmar has been in chaos because the army seized energy in February 2021.
Bangkok:
Dozens of individuals in central Myanmar have been killed in air strikes Tuesday, based on native media studies and a witness contacted by AFP, because the United Nations and Western powers condemned the assaults and demanded accountability.
The Southeast Asian nation has been in chaos and its financial system in tatters because the army seized energy in February 2021 coup.
UN rights chief Volker Turk mentioned he was “horrified” by the lethal air strikes whose victims he mentioned included schoolchildren performing dances, with the worldwide physique calling for these accountable to be delivered to justice.
The dying toll from the early Tuesday morning strike on the distant Kanbalu township in Sagaing area is unclear.
Not less than 50 fatalities and dozens of accidents have been reported by BBC Burmese, The Irrawaddy and Radio Free Asia.
The United Nations, whereas not confirming a toll, mentioned a number of civilians have been killed, with Turk accusing Myanmar’s army of as soon as once more disregarding “clear authorized obligations… to guard civilians within the conduct of hostilities”.
UN Secretary-Common Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns the assault by the Myanmar Armed Forces at present,” based on an announcement by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Guterres “reiterates his name for the army to finish the marketing campaign of violence in opposition to the Myanmar inhabitants all through the nation,” the spokesman added.
Washington mentioned it was “deeply involved” in regards to the air strikes.
“These violent assaults additional underscore the regime’s disregard for human life and its duty for the dire political and humanitarian disaster in Burma following the February 2021 coup,” State Division spokesman Vedant Patel mentioned in an announcement, utilizing the nation’s former identify.
“The US calls on the Burma regime to stop the horrific violence, permit unhindered humanitarian entry, and to respect the real and inclusive democratic aspirations of the folks of Burma.”
– ‘Nice ache’ –
Sagaing area — close to the nation’s second-largest metropolis, Mandalay — has put up a few of the fiercest resistance to the army’s rule, with intense preventing raging there for months.
Graphic video clips circulating on social media — footage AFP has been unable to confirm — present our bodies scattered amongst ruined properties.
“We’re going to rescue you if we hear you screaming,” one particular person may very well be heard saying within the video. “Please scream!”
A rescuer linked to an anti-coup Individuals’s Defence Pressure group instructed AFP that girls and youngsters have been among the many lifeless.
After recovering our bodies and transporting victims for medical remedy, he estimated the dying toll may very well be as much as 100.
Germany’s Overseas Workplace in a tweet mentioned they “strongly condemn the #Myanmar military’s airstrike killing dozens of civilians, incl. many kids,” including: “we count on the regime to finish the violence in opposition to its folks instantly.”
Earlier than army plane strafed Pazi Gyi village, scores of locals had gathered to mark the opening of an area defence drive workplace.
Myanmar’s Nationwide Unity Authorities, a shadow physique dominated by former lawmakers from ousted civilian chief Aung San Suu Kyi’s social gathering, condemned the strike as a “heinous act”.
“We… share the good ache felt by the households affected by this tragedy,” it mentioned in an announcement.
The army, which accuses anti-coup fighters of being terrorists, has confronted worldwide condemnation for razing villages, mass killings and air strikes on civilians.
Greater than 30 folks sheltering in a monastery have been killed in Shan state in March.
Final yr, a army air strike on a live performance placed on by the Kachin Independence Military in northern Kachin state killed round 50 folks and wounded greater than 70, the rebels mentioned.
At a army parade final month, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing vowed to proceed cracking down on opponents.
The army final month introduced a six-month extension of a state of emergency and postponed elections it had promised to carry by August as a result of it didn’t management sufficient of the nation for a vote.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
