Myanmar military paraglider attack kills 24 at Buddhist festival

International

AT LEAST 24 people, including children, were killed and around 47 others injured after Myanmar’s military dropped two bombs from a motorized paraglider onto a crowd during a Buddhist festival in Chaung U township, Sagaing region.

According to a BBC report, the attack took place Monday evening, as some 100 civilians had gathered to observe the Thadingyut festival — a full-moon Buddhist holiday — and to hold a candlelight vigil calling for the release of political prisoners. It was also described by witnesses as a protest against the military junta.

According to local resistance sources, the paraglider dropped the bombs just as the crowd was dispersing, after resisting leaders tried to pre-warn people of a possible airborne attack.

One PDF (People’s Defence Force) official said the explosions happened within seven minutes after the gathering; he himself was injured in the blast.

Bodies were severely damaged, and some victims were reportedly unidentifiable in the chaos. A woman helping organise the event said, “Children were completely torn apart.”

Rescuers and local residents later collected bodies and remains.

Amnesty International condemned the attack, calling it part of a “disturbing trend” in which Myanmar’s military increasingly uses motorized paragliders (paramotors) to target civilian gatherings. International observers say this tactic is alarming given the difficulty for villagers and resistance forces to mount defenses.(Ma. Victoria Diana, USJ-R Comm Intern)