A Buddhist monastery in the village of Swel Le Oh, in Myanmar’s central Sagaing Region, was struck by an army fighter jet while more than 100 people were there for a meditation retreat.
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The attack left at least 14 civilians dead and around 20 injured. According to the Myaung District Civilian Protection and Security Organization, the victims included 11 men and three women.
The monastery is located about 75 kilometers west of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. The bombing was carried out at around 9:00 a.m., during the Buddhist Lent period.
A local resident quoted by the Associated Press said the aircraft dropped two bombs approximately 15 minutes apart. One struck the monastery complex, while the other hit a house nearby. A week-long meditation retreat was taking place in the area, attended by more than 100 people.
“Five of those killed were from our village and the other nine were from surrounding villages,” a local fighter told AFP.
Another member of the resistance said most of the victims were between 50 and 70 years old.
“This was not a case of mistaken targeting. They deliberately attacked a monastery,” he said.
Myanmar’s military has not yet commented on the incident. The military junta has previously said that its attacks target only military objectives, while accusing resistance forces of using civilians as human shields.
The incident occurred just days after the publication of a new report by the United Nations’ Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar. The document says that the armed forces have intensified airstrikes against civilians, while UN investigators are gathering evidence of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Sagaing is considered one of the main centers of armed resistance against the junta, which seized power in a coup in February 2021 and ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
Since the coup, Myanmar has been embroiled in a civil war pitting the military against pro-democracy armed groups and ethnic minority militias.
As government forces’ capabilities on the ground have gradually weakened, the junta has increasingly relied on military aviation in recent years, leading to a rise in civilian casualties.
