Airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar army killed more than 60 people during a celebration by the main political organization of the Kachim ethnic minority, members of the group and a member of the rescue team said on Monday.
The reported attack came three days before Southeast Asian foreign ministers were to hold a special meeting in Indonesia to discuss rising violence in Myanmar (formerly Burma).
The death toll at a Sunday night celebration of the Organization for the Independence of Kachim, in the state of the same name, to be confirmed, would be the highest in an airstrike since the military seized power in February of the year. past, overthrowing the elected government of Aung. San Suu Kyi.
While details of the attack could not be independently confirmed, media outlets sympathetic to the Kachim movement have released videos showing footage of what they say was the aftermath of the attack.
There was no immediate comment from the military or government media.
Myanmar has been experiencing rebellions by ethnic minorities demanding autonomy for decades, but anti-government resistance has risen sharply across the country with the formation of an armed pro-democracy movement that opposed last year’s military takeover.
Sunday’s celebration of the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Kachim Independence Organization was held at a base also used by the Kachim Independence Army, the movement’s armed wing, for military training.
A spokesman for the Kachin artists’ association told the Associated Press by telephone that military planes dropped four bombs when 300 to 500 people were present, asking not to be identified for fear of being punished by authorities.
Source: TSF
