Dozens killed in Myanmar after armed paraglider attack: Reports

"More than 20 people were killed in central Myanmar after the military launched motorised paraglider attacks during an antigovernment candlelight vigil, according to Amnesty International and media reports. The attacks hit a village in Myanmar's Sagaing Region twice on Monday night as community members gathered to mark a Buddhist festival and call for the release of political prisoners, among other demands, the reports said. list of 4 itemsend of list This would be the latest in a long line of attacks that stretch back almost five years to the start of the 2021 military coup, said Amnesty International Myanmar Researcher Joe Freeman."

"As the military attempts to solidify power with a stage-managed election later this year, it is intensifying an already brutal campaign against pockets of resistance, he said. The attacks on Chaung-U Township came in two waves at 8pm (13:30 GMT) and then again at 11pm (16:30 GMT), killing between 20 and 32 people and injuring dozens more, according to The Irrawaddy, an independent news outlet based in Thailand."

"The official death toll has not been confirmed, but the use of motorised paragliders is a known tactic from Myanmar's military to drop munitions on civilian locations, according to the UN Human Rights Office. Myanmar has been torn by civil war since 2021 between the military-led government, armed opposition groups, and ethnic armed organisations following a military coup that removed a democratically elected leadership."

Motorised paraglider attacks struck a village in Chaung-U Township, Sagaing Region, during a nighttime antigovernment candlelight vigil and Buddhist festival, killing between 20 and 32 people and injuring dozens. The attacks came in two waves at 8pm and 11pm and involved dropping munitions onto civilian locations. The assaults form part of a sustained campaign that began after the 2021 military coup, amid a civil war that has killed more than 75,000 people and displaced over 3 million. The military frequently targets communities near armed-group strongholds while seeking to consolidate power ahead of a stage-managed election.

Read at www.aljazeera.com