KANI, Myanmar — A massive aerial assault involving eight jet fighters has devastated a religious and educational complex in Sagaing Region, leaving a senior monk and several others wounded, despite the absence of any military targets in the area.
The attack took place shortly after noon on March 21, 2026, in Su Le Kone village, Kani Township. Local sources report that the jets conducted 13 separate bombing runs over a 30-minute period, targeting the local monastery and school buildings.
An elderly temple assistant (kappiya) was killed instantly in the raid. Among the injured are three Buddhist monks, including the Secretary of the Township Monastic Council (Sangha Nayaka), and another assistant.
Ko Pyae Aung Naing, a local political activist, told MPA that the intensity of the strike suggested a significant intelligence failure by the sham government’s military.
“I believe they acted on false information,” he said. “The areas hit have always been dedicated solely to religion and education. There is absolutely no PDF (People’s Defence Force) camp here.”
Activists also addressed rumors likely used to justify the strike, clarifying that while a small community health clinic exists behind the school, there is no “NUG underground hospital” at the site.
“They seem to have mistaken a basic village clinic for a military facility,” Ko Pyae Aung Naing added.
The destruction is extensive. Local reports confirm that 10 religious buildings, four school buildings, three residential homes, and a cattle shed were destroyed. “The bombing was savage,” a resident close to the village said. “The school was fortunately closed at the time, otherwise the death toll would have been unthinkable. The monastery, however, is almost entirely in ruins.”
Su Le Kone is a large village of over 700 households. The condition of the wounded monks and the survivor remains unknown due to the ongoing instability in the region.
This incident follows a similar tragedy on March 7, when military drones and heavy artillery targeted a traditional novitiation ceremony in Nat Lar Po Taung village, also in Kani Township. That attack killed eight people and wounded 18 others.
As the sham government struggles to maintain ground control in the Sagaing heartland, its reliance on heavy airpower has increasingly resulted in the destruction of non-combatant infrastructure and religious institutions, drawing repeated accusations of war crimes from international monitors.
