This handout photo from humanitarian group Free Burma Rangers taken on May 3, 2022, and released on May 4 shows a dog running past the burning remains of a building after airstrikes and mortar attacks by the Myanmar military on a village in Doo Tha Htoo district in Myanmar’s eastern Kayin state. (Photo: Free Burma Rangers / AFP)
Apr 4 2023
People from Myanmar are mourning the death of scores of people, including children, in an airstrike by the military junta on a crowd gathered in the embattled Sagaing region.
The attack on April 11 which is believed to have killed at least 100 people in the Buddhist Bamar heartland led to an outpouring of sorrow with many people changing their profile pictures and backgrounds to black on Facebook in solidarity with the dead and those still suffering in the aftermath.
There were tears of grief as disturbing photos and videos of the tragic massacre in Pazingyi village, Kanbalu township circulated on social media.Another airstrike on April 10 claimed the lives of 11 civilians including a local pastor and a school principal in Webula village, Falam township in predominantly Christian Chin state, according to media reports and local rights group.
A group of young people from Majayng town, in Kachin state painted murals showing airplanes dropping bombs and boldly proclaiming, “Together we are strong.”
Elsewhere, young protesters marched into villages in central Myanmar to condemn the airstrikes and called the international community to stop supplying aviation fuel to the junta and impose an arms embargo, according to local media reports.
The Independent Catholics for Justice in Myanmar, a group of priests, religious and laypeople, said, “The world must act quickly to assist the people of Myanmar to end the impunity of the junta.”
“It is time for action. The people of Myanmar deserve international support and solidarity in their struggle for freedom and democracy,” Mahn Win Khaing Than, the Christian prime minister of the National Unity Government (NUG), the opposition shadow government in exile, said on Twitter.
The attack drew strong condemnation from the United Nations and Western nations including the United States, Britain, Germany, and Canada, as well as the European Union.
Japan and the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also expressed their strong disapproval of the violence against civilians.
“ASEAN strongly condemns the deadly airstrike and all forms of violence must end immediately, particularly the use of force against civilians,” ASEAN Chair Indonesia said in an April 13 statement.
Myanmar had been under harsh military rule for more than five decades. It was pushed into further chaos following the Feb. 2021 coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, abruptly ending a 10-year experiment with democracy. – UCA News
