A monastery in central Myanmar's Sagaing region came under military air strike on Friday, resulting in at least fourteen deaths, according to opposition fighters and rescue workers. The victims, described as elderly civilians gathered for a Buddhist meditation retreat, were struck twice during the attack.
The incident occurred early Friday morning at approximately 09:00 local time in Myaung township, roughly 70 kilometres west of Mandalay in the Sagaing region. According to a local rescue worker speaking to BBC Burmese, all fourteen people killed were elderly, and several monks sustained injuries in the strikes.
Opposition fighters provided details about the fatalities, stating that the victims included eleven men and three women, aged between 50 and 70 years. Five of those killed were reportedly from one village, while the remaining nine came from a neighbouring township. The individuals had gathered at the monastery for a meditation retreat marking Buddhist Lent. One unnamed opposition fighter described a second strike occurring while rescue operations were underway, saying "while we were trying to rescue people, the aircraft came to bomb a second time."
Myanmar's military has not issued a statement regarding the incident. The strikes occurred against the backdrop of the country's ongoing civil conflict, which began following the military's 2021 coup that removed Aung San Suu Kyi from power. Myanmar has been under martial rule since that event. The military has faced repeated accusations of carrying out air strikes on civilian infrastructure, though officials have previously maintained they only target legitimate military objectives.
