An air strike on a Buddhist monastery in Myanmar's earthquake-struck Sagaing region has killed 23 people, including four children, according to witnesses.
A member of a resistance group said the overnight aerial attack on the monastery in Lin Ta Lu village, in Sagaing township, injured about 30 other people, of which 10 were in a critical condition.
The resistance member — who spoke on condition of anonymity — said 23 civilians were killed when a jet fighter dropped a bomb on a building in the village's monastery at about 1am.
They said more than 150 people from nearby villages had been taking shelter there to avoid recent fighting in the region.
Myanmar's independent Democratic Voice of Burma online media reported the death toll could be as high as 30, however the number could not be immediately confirmed.
Hlaing Bwa, the head of the pro-democracy group that administers parts of the central region, and a local resident both described the attack as an air strike by the State Administration Council, Myanmar's military junta.
The military did not immediately comment on the incident at the monastery, located about 35 kilometres north-west of Mandalay, the country's second largest city.
In the past, the army has said it only attacks legitimate targets of war and has accused the resistance forces of being terrorists.
The monastery housed about 200 people displaced by nearby fighting between the army and pro-democracy forces, Hlaing Bwa said.
The nature of the attack could not immediately be verified.
Military conducting air strikes despite quake
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering a civil war.
After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms. Large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.
Days after a devastating magnitude-7.7 earthquake hit Sagaing on March 28, the junta announced a temporary ceasefire to provide humanitarian relief and help rebuild the region, after similar moves from armed anti-junta groups.
However, the military has continued to launch air strikes and artillery attacks on rebel-controlled areas, including those already destroyed by the quake, which killed almost 3,700 people.
The military has increasingly used air strikes to counter opposition forces, including the armed People's Defence Force in Sagaing region, a stronghold of armed resistance.
The resistance has no effective defence against air attacks.
The monastery attack comes weeks after hundreds of soldiers took part in an offensive with tanks and aircraft in an area about 5km from Lin Ta Lu to regain territories controlled by the resistance groups.
Thousands of people from nearby villages were displaced to the other towns and villages including Lin Ta Lu, the resistance fighter said.
Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the opposition's National Unity government, said the military had been trying to retake areas controlled by the resistance ahead of a planned general election later this year.
The poll is widely seen as an attempt to normalise the military's seizure of power through the ballot box and to deliver a result that ensures the generals retain control.
ABC/wires
