Myanmar coup: Military air strike kills more than 40 people in Sagaing region

The Myanmar military has shown no signs of stopping its air strikes on civilians in the country since the generals seized power in a coup in 2021. The latest strikes by the military killed more than 40 people in the Sagaing region.

On Tuesday, the Myanmar military carried out air strikes on the town of Pazigyi in the country’s Sagaing region. Witnesses and local media outlets said the strike killed at least 50 people, including children. The air strikes took place amidst an inauguration of an administrative office, the worst since the coup that put the country into a state of unrest.

The Sagaing region is an area that has fiercely put up resistance to the Myanmar military, with fighting having taken place in the area for months. Video footage of the recent attack circulated on social media, showing bodies littered in the homes that were destroyed.

The latest air strike also comes as the Myanmar military has repeatedly been accused of indiscriminate killings of civilians along with other human rights abuses in its crackdown to crush the opposition to the military takeover. Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing and the junta have since outlawed the resistance groups, including the shadow National Unity Government as “terrorists.”

Last month, Min Aung Hlaing said he intends to deal with so-called terrorists in a decisive manner.

A member of the People’s Defense Force – the armed wing of the NUG – told Reuters that news agency fighter jets were what carried out the strikes on an opening of an administrative office in the region. The member said the exact number of casualties remains unknown.

The unrest that resulted from the coup has also forced thousands to flee to neighboring countries. Thai officials said last week that the clashes between armed resistance groups in the southern Karen region near the town of Myawaddy forced thousands of people to cross the border and into Thailand’s Tak province.

Tak provincial officials said in a statement that around 3998 people crossed the border and sought refuge in temporary shelters. The officials said the situation was being monitored at the time.