At least ten people, including two young children, have been killed following a military air attack on a village in Myanmar’s Sagaing Region on Monday night.
Local officials from the National Unity Government (NUG) reported that the military used two paramotors to drop bombs on Shwe Kyaung Kan village in Myinmu Township at approximately 19:00 local time on 23 February. The strike targeted a location near the village entrance where residents had gathered to use a Starlink satellite internet connection and a local oil mill.
The fatalities include five men, three women, and two children. “One of the children killed was only two years old,” a spokesperson for the Myinmu Township Fire Safety Team told the Myanmar Pressphoto Agency (MPA). “The victims were simply civilians using the Starlink Wi-Fi or working at the oil mill when the bombs fell.”
In addition to the immediate deaths, five other people were injured, one of whom later died while receiving medical treatment. The attack also destroyed the oil mill, a residential home, and killed five cows.
Shwe Kyaung Kan is a village of about 300 households, located roughly 20 miles from the town of Myinmu.
The use of paramotors to deliver explosives has become an increasingly frequent tactic used by the Myanmar military as it attempts to suppress resistance in Sagaing, a stronghold for anti-junta forces. International rights groups have repeatedly condemned the targeting of civilian infrastructure and the use of indiscriminate air power in populated areas.
