The military junta has killed 11 people in a series of airstrikes on Buddhist monasteries during the New Year holiday, a time when people traditionally visit religious sites to perform acts of charity.
The latest and deadliest attack on Tuesday killed six civilians and wounded at least 25 people, including 10 monks, at the Khanni village monastery in Kawkarek township in Karen State, villagers told RFA’s Burmese service.
The injured are being treated at Mawlamyine General Hospital, said a resident who, like other sources for this story, spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons. Mawlamyine is the capital of neighboring Mon state.
The toll could have been higher if the bombing had taken place earlier in the day, when more people had gathered at the monastery, the resident added. He said fighting had been going on in nearby areas since Monday evening between junta forces and the Karen National Liberation Army, which controls Khanni village.
According to Radio Free Asia, the airstrikes from Saturday (the eve of the Burmese New Year Water Festival) to Tuesday killed 11 people and injured 51 people in Sagaing, Mandalay, Karen and Rakhine states.
The attacks came despite a ceasefire declared by anti-junta and junta forces following a devastating earthquake in central Myanmar that killed more than 3,700 people.
During the ceasefire, rebels have seized new territory, prompting retaliatory airstrikes by the military, often resulting in heavy civilian casualties. Buddhist temples are not only places of worship, but also often serve as shelters for displaced people.
The junta launched an airstrike on a temple in Kani Township in Sagaing Region at around 8 a.m. on Monday as people were preparing to go to the temple for the festival, a resident said.
“Two of the novices in Tha Min Chan village were killed and two were seriously injured,” the resident said.
“Because the bombs fell a little early, only the monks in the monastery – those who came to make merit and perform duties for the monks had not arrived yet.”
The Kani resident added that another woman was seriously injured when the bomb fell in a nearby village.
In addition, Indaw Township, which is partially occupied by the shadow National Unity Government militia, was attacked again at around 11 a.m. on Monday, injuring two people, according to local residents.
On Sunday, the junta also attacked monasteries in three townships in Sagaing Region – Thaze, Wintaw and Kawling, killing one woman and injuring seven people, including a monk, according to local residents.
In another attack in Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township, three civilians were injured: 10-year-old Chit Hnin Wai, 27-year-old Kyi Kyi Win and 34-year-old Oo Than May, local residents added.
In Mandalay Region’s Natogyi Township, an airstrike on Monday targeting another temple injured three more monks, including a child, local residents told RFA.
A member of the Pyin Oo Lwin People’s Defense Force, one of the rebel groups, said Sunday’s attack in the town of Thabekin killed a man and a woman and wounded eight others.
“Around 10:21 p.m., they dropped four bombs, each weighing about 200 or 300 pounds, on the village of Chaung Gyi,” he said.
RFA contacted Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for the Military Council, about the airstrike, but he did not answer calls.
