Brutal Airstrike by Myanmar Military Junta Kills and Injures at Least 71 Civilians | WPN World People News

On the evening of October 6, during Myanmar’s traditional Buddhist festival known as the Thadingyut Festival, around a hundred people gathered in the central town of Chaung-U. The gathering was both a cultural celebration and a protest against the military junta’s policies. According to officials from the anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF), there had been intelligence of a potential airstrike, but there was not enough time to cancel the event.

The protest site was attacked by the military using a paramotor (powered paraglider), which dropped two bombs on the crowd, resulting in severe casualties.

According to a report by the BBC, the explosions were extremely powerful, killing at least 24 people and injuring 47. Since the military coup in 2021, the junta has faced armed resistance from ethnic militias and various armed groups, resulting in thousands of deaths and millions displaced. Having lost control of over half the country, the junta has increasingly resorted to airstrikes and bombings to suppress resistance. This airstrike is just one of hundreds of similar attacks.

In recent months, the junta has acquired numerous Chinese drones and received technical support from Russia. While Beijing supports the junta, it has also pressured rebel groups along the China-Myanmar border to stop supplying arms to resistance forces, leading to the rebels’ withdrawal from several territories.

Joe Freeman, a researcher at Amnesty International, condemned the attack and called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to increase pressure on the military junta. Although the junta has announced its first general election will be held in December, the fairness of the election has been widely questioned. The attacked protest aimed to peacefully oppose military conscription and the upcoming national election. Protesters also called for the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted and imprisoned following the coup.