Death raining from the sky in India’s neighbourhood, fighter jets dropped bombs on their own people, 20 school children died

According to media reports, the attack took place in the morning in Ohay Thin Twin village, located in Tabayin township, also known as Depayin, and injured dozens of other students. There has been no official comment from Myanmar’s military government or its state-run media on the incident. Since the February 2021 military coup, which ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the military has increasingly relied on air power to suppress armed resistance across the country.

Human rights groups estimate that more than 6,600 civilians have been killed by security forces since the coup. A member of the White Depayin People’s Defense Force, one of the groups opposing military rule, told The Associated Press that a fighter jet dropped bombs on the school building shortly after 9 a.m., when students from primary to high school were in class. The village is located about 115 kilometers (70 miles) northwest of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city.

50 people injured

A resistance fighter who helped rescue victims after the bombing requested to remain anonymous for fear of arrest. He said the school run by pro-democracy groups was badly damaged, causing about 50 injuries and several deaths. Three nearby houses were also damaged in the blast. He also said there had been no fighting in the area in recent days, although Sagaing is a stronghold of the resistance. A spokesman for the opposition National Unity Government told The Associated Press that he had received the same information about the number of casualties, and the death toll could rise. This organization is the main opposition group coordinating resistance against military rule.

He accused the army of deliberately attacking civilians in monasteries, refugee camps, schools and hospitals, making the excuse that resistance fighters were taking refuge in such places, although this was not the case and the bombing was aimed at turning people away from the resistance movement. Independent Myanmar media put the death toll in Monday’s bombing at more than 17 to 20. A volunteer helping displaced people in Tabayin, who requested anonymity for fear of government reprisals, said he had information from the ground that confirmed 12 students had been killed and about 30-50 others were injured.

The Sagaing region, near the Indian border, has been a stronghold of the armed resistance, and in recent years the army has stepped up airstrikes against the local pro-democracy People’s Defence Force. The resistance has no effective defence against airstrikes. In September 2022, airstrikes by army helicopters hit a school and village in Let Yet Kon village, killing at least 13 people, including seven children. In April 2023, airstrikes killed 160 people, including many children, who were attending a ceremony organised by opponents of army rule outside Pazigi village in Kanbalu township in Sagaing region.

Airstrikes in Myanmar gained greater attention recently when multiple reports considered credible by the United Nations and human rights groups said they continued following Myanmar’s devastating March 28 earthquake, after which the military and resistance groups declared a ceasefire to facilitate relief efforts