At least eleven children were killed and fifteen minors missing after a bombardment and ground attack by the Burmese Army in civil areas It is from the northwestern region of Sagaing, Burma, including a school, according to UNICEF’s statement. The attack involved aerial bombardment Tatmadaw -Burmese Army- helicopters and “indiscriminate” shooting It took place on Friday, September 16, after the troops disembarked, according to the UN agency, which in a statement confirmed details of the incident are still being confirmed.
At least fifteen children from the same school that was bombed inside a Buddhist monastery lost, apparently kidnappedand UNICEF insists on their “immediate and safe release”. “Schools are a safe place. Children should never be attacked,” UNICEF says.
Some Burmese independent media have echoed the Burmese Army offensive, one of the bloodiest attacks recorded against minors since Tatmadaw staged a coup on February 1, 2021 that plunged the Asian country into an ongoing spiral of violence and destruction. The military launched air and ground attacks on several towns in Sagaing, Depaying Municipality, during school hours on Friday, according to a report published on Monday, according to Myanmar Now. This media states that most of the victims were students at a school in Let Yet Kone. the army would also kidnap teachers and students, and cites a local resident who claimed that two helicopters appeared without warning and began firing indiscriminately at villages. “Suddenly they came and started shooting. Two helicopters flew over our heads and fired. When they left, all we could do was lie on the ground,” adds the witness, whose identity has not been released by the Burmese media.
The Burmese junta was responsible for the bombing. in response to the onslaught of rebel groupsAccording to Burmese media outlet The Irrawaddy, the “extremists” hiding in the monastery are a movement opposed to the coup, which the People’s Defense Forces (PDF) rejects. These media show that resistance troops were guarding the school when two Mi-35M helicopters manufactured by a Russian subsidiary carried out the attack, and then around 80 soldiers were deployed in the area and surrounded the school.
A statement from the Government of National Unity (NUG), composed largely of members of the now imprisoned and deposed executive of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who claimed to be the legitimate authority in Burma, condemned the “inhuman attack”. describes it as a “brutal war crime”.
In total, at least 57 children under the age of 13 have been killed by the military since the coup, according to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local NGO that collects information on the junta’s attacks. 2300th civilian killed by Burmese security forces.