YANGON, April 12 (AFP) – Myanmar's ruling junta has confirmed that it carried out an air strike on a village in which dozens of people were reported killed, drawing condemnation from the United Nations and Western powers.
UN rights chief Volker Turk said he was "horrified" by the deadly air strike, whose victims he said included schoolchildren performing dances, with the global body calling for those responsible to be brought to justice.
The death toll from the early Tuesday morning strike on the remote Kanbalu township in the central Sagaing region remains unclear.
At least 50 fatalities and dozens of injuries were reported by BBC Burmese, The Irrawaddy and Radio Free Asia, as well as a witness contacted by AFP.
The junta confirmed late Tuesday night that the strike had taken place, but did not say how many were killed.
"There was (a People's Defence Force) office opening ceremony... (Tuesday) morning about 8 am at Pazi Gyi village," said spokesman Zaw Min Tun, referring to the armed anti-junta groups that have sprung up across the country since its elected government was toppled in a 2021 military coup.
"We attacked that place."
Some of the dead, he added, were anti-coup fighters in uniform, though "there could be some people with civilian clothes".
The spokesman went on to blame mines planted by the People's Defence Force for some of the deaths.
The United Nations, while not confirming a toll, said several civilians were killed, with Turk accusing Myanmar's military of once again disregarding "clear legal obligations... to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities".
The military's crackdown on dissent in the wake of the coup has left more than 3,100 people dead, according to a local monitoring group.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "strongly condemns the attack by the Myanmar Armed Forces today", according to a statement by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Guterres "reiterates his call for the military to end the campaign of violence against the Myanmar population throughout the country", the spokesman added.
Washington said it was "deeply concerned" about the air strikes.
"These violent attacks further underscore the regime's disregard for human life and its responsibility for the dire political and humanitarian crisis in Burma following the February 2021 coup," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement, using the country's former name.
"The United States calls on the Burma regime to cease the horrific violence, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and to respect the genuine and inclusive democratic aspirations of the people of Burma."
