Myanmar’s Junta has killed dozens of people, including singers and musicians, in a lethal airstrike that targeted a celebratory event held by the Kachin ethnic group, the prominent ethnic rebel group in the country.
An airstrike was launched near A Nan Pa Village in Hpakant Townshin, Kachin State, located in the north of the country, on Sunday evening. People were gathered to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).
The reported attack came three days before Southeast Asian foreign ministers were due to attend a special meeting in Indonesia to discuss the widening violence in the country.
The air attack appeared to be the only and most heinous since the Myanmar military seized and overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in February 2021.
Furthermore, those killed include Kachin military officers and soldiers, musicians, jade mining business owners and other civilians, as the spokesperson for the Kachin Artist Association told ‘The Associate Press’ news agency on Monday.
In addition, different organizations like Amnesty International have expressed their concerns.
The Deputy Regional Director of Amnesty, Hana Young, stated: “We fear this attack is part of a pattern of unlawful aerial attacks by the military which have killed and injured civilians in areas controlled by armed groups.”
“The military has shown ruthless disregard for civilian lives in its escalating campaign against opponents.”
“It is difficult to believe the military did not know of a significant civilian presence at the site of this attack,” she added. (Al Jazeera)
Human Rights Watch has labelled these raids as “a violation of the laws of war, which prohibit attacks causing indiscriminate or disproportionate civilian harm.”
Myanmar has been wrecked for decades by ethnic minority uprisings. However, anti-government resistance has sharply increased with the formation of an armed pro-democracy movement opposing the military takeover in February 2021.