Defying their own announced ceasefire and disregarding the spirit of the Thingyan festival, Myanmar’s military regime bombed civilian areas and monasteries, leaving a trail of death and injury and exposing their callous disregard for their own people.
BY PC Bureau
As Myanmar‘s predominantly Buddhist population attempted to observe their New Year, seeking respite from the dual devastation of a protracted civil war and a recent deadly earthquake, the military junta unleashed a wave of terror upon them.
During the four-day Thingyan festival, the military regime conducted at least 26 airstrikes targeting civilian areas across seven of the country’s 15 regions. This brutal campaign, documented by The Irrawaddy, resulted in the deaths of at least 23 people, including children and Buddhist novices, and left approximately 50 others injured.
Shockingly, at least six monasteries, traditional gathering places for Buddhists throughout the New Year celebrations, were among the targeted sites. Airstrikes were reported in 20 townships spanning Magwe, Sagaing, Mandalay, and Bago regions, as well as Rakhine, Chin, and Karen States, between April 13 and 16 – a period where no ground fighting was reported in those specific locations.
The Mon Liberation Army reported a particularly horrific incident on Tuesday afternoon, when a YAK-30 fighter jet bombed a monastery in Kanni Village, near Kyondoe in Karen State’s Kawkareik Township. This attack killed four children and two adults, and injured 17 others, including 10 novices and monks. Tragically, Kanni village and the nearby Thayet Taw village were bombed again by a regime warplane on Thursday, resulting in the death of a villager and injuries to two more children.
The violence continued on Wednesday when a Y12 junta plane dropped bombs on Myauk Kanma Yite village in the same township, killing a 37-year-old pregnant woman and four others, including two children, according to the MLA.
❗️The Myanmar military junta launched airstrikes on multiple Buddhist monasteries across Sagaing region during the Thingyan New Year celebrations, resulting in the deaths of at least two novice monks and injuries to several others.#junta #airstrikes #Sagaing #Myanmar pic.twitter.com/mVpIJMAmvF
— International Crisis Room 360 (@ICR360) April 16, 2025
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In Sagaing Region’s Kani Township on Sunday, the regime employed drones, paramotors, and a Y12 airplane to bomb seven villages. The attack on the Thamin Chan village monastery resulted in the deaths of two novices and two villagers. Further south, in Mandalay Region’s Natogyi Township, a junta fighter jet bombed a monastery in Kyun Dauk village on Monday afternoon, setting buildings ablaze, as reported by the Natogyi Journal, which monitors junta attacks. This airstrike injured a 54-year-old monk, a seven-year-old novice, and a villager.
The junta’s actions stand in stark contrast to the unilateral ceasefires declared by the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) and some powerful ethnic armed organizations following the March 28 earthquake. These ceasefires were intended to facilitate rescue operations and allow for safe funeral proceedings. Despite announcing its own 20-day “quake truce” starting on April 2, the junta demonstrably continued its airstrikes and artillery attacks on both civilians and resistance targets across the country.
The NUG’s Human Rights Ministry reported that between March 28 and April 8, the regime conducted a staggering 92 shelling attacks and airstrikes across 12 of Myanmar’s 15 regions and states, resulting in 72 deaths and 91 injuries. This pattern of violence during what should have been a time of peace and reflection for the New Year underscores the junta’s utter disregard for civilian life and any semblance of a genuine commitment to peace, even amidst natural disaster and cultural observances.
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