BANGKOK: The death toll from an air strike on a village in central Myanmar has risen to 171, according to a villager involved in cremating the bodies and media reports.
The attack took place on Tuesday in Pazi Gyi village in the Sagaing region, a rebel stronghold near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. The military authorities confirmed they had carried out an operation in the area but did not provide an official death toll.
The villager, who asked not to be identified, said that 109 men, 24 women, and 38 children were killed in the air strike, and another 53 people were injured.
The attack drew international outrage and condemnation, with the United Kingdom calling for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to meet to discuss the incident.
Myanmar has been in crisis since the military coup in February 2021, which toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government. The military crackdown on dissent has led to the deaths of an estimated 3,200 civilians.
Intense fighting between rebels and military in Myanmar
The Sagaing region has been a site of intense fighting between rebel groups and the military, with the junta blaming some of the deaths in Pazi Gyi on mines planted by anti-junta fighters. However, the villager involved in cremating the bodies said that there were no signs of mines in the area.
The attack came on the eve of Thingyan, Myanmar’s Buddhist new year water festival. Pazi Gyi was deserted on Friday, with villagers too scared to return.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has led diplomatic efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis, strongly condemned the air strikes on Thursday.
Myanmar’s National Unity Government, a shadow body dominated by former lawmakers from Suu Kyi’s party, tweeted a chart on Friday with a total of 168 fatalities.
In a separate incident, rebels allegedly dropped four bombs from a drone that killed eight people, including five children, and wounded 31 others at Kywe Pon village, also in the Sagaing region.
