Myanmar Military Airstrike Kills 14 at Buddhist Monastery
Myanmar's military killed at least 14 people in an airstrike on a monastery in central Sagaing Region on August 21, striking elderly Buddhist practitioners gathered for religious ceremonies during Lent.
Myanmar military aircraft struck a monastery in Myaung Township, central Sagaing Region, on August 21, killing at least 14 people who had gathered for religious ceremonies during Buddhist Lent. According to Nway Oo Myaung, a pro-democracy opposition figure, the attack occurred around 9 a.m. local time and killed 11 men and 3 women, mostly elderly practitioners aged 50–70 who were observing a three-month meditation retreat. Nway Oo stated the strike was deliberate, not accidental. Analysts note that Myanmar's military relies on fighter jets supplied by China and Russia to counter rebel groups. Last week, the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), established by the UN Human Rights Council, released a report accusing the military of indiscriminate airstrikes against civilians, which the Myanmar government dismissed as one-sided allegations based on unverifiable information. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), which maps political violence and armed conflict worldwide, reported in July that the military's sustained terror strategy includes deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and social gatherings such as weddings and religious festivals to maximize psychological impact. Myanmar has been engulfed in civil war since the military coup in 2021 that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Over the past five years, more than 100,000 people from all sides have died amid ongoing fighting between the military and pro-democracy groups and various armed ethnic forces.
