Myanmar Military Fires Machine Guns at School from Helicopter... 11 Children Dead

11 Children Dead, Total 17 Students Injured Including Others

The day after the Myanmar military junta targeted rebels by attacking a middle school inside a Buddhist monastery in Tabaing, Sagaing region, on the 17th (local time), an ownerless school bag was left beside bloodstains remaining in the school hallway. On the 20th, local media reported that 11 children from the school died and 17 people, including students, were injured due to the military's helicopter airstrikes. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Eleven children were killed when the Myanmar military junta attacked a school to suppress rebel forces.

According to local Myanmar media The Irrawaddy and foreign news outlets on the 20th, on the 16th, the Myanmar military attacked a school within a Buddhist monastery in Tabain Township, Sagaing Region, about 110 km northwest of Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar.

The military's helicopter airstrike killed 11 children and injured a total of 17 people, including students. AP reported that although there have been civilian casualties due to military attacks since the coup in February last year, this was the largest scale of child casualties.

Witnesses testified that a Myanmar military Mi-35 helicopter circled the northern part of the village and fired machine guns at the school for about an hour. A teacher at the school told AP, "The students did nothing wrong, so I never thought the helicopter would cruelly fire machine guns at the school," adding, "However, the shooting from the air continued for an hour."

After the helicopter airstrike, about 80 soldiers entered the monastery grounds and fired guns at the buildings. Some soldiers ordered everyone inside the buildings to come outside. A school official told AP that about 30 students were seen injured in the thighs and face during this process.

The Myanmar military junta stated in a press release that the attack was a response to the rebels. The military claimed it had launched an operation to suppress the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and attacked because resistance forces were hiding in the monastery.

In response, the rebel side strongly condemned the incident as "child murder." A representative of the People's Defense Force (PDF) criticized, "We can accept being killed while fighting them, but killing children at a school is unacceptable."

Meanwhile, since the military coup, humanitarian crimes have significantly increased in Myanmar. The annual report published in August by the Myanmar Independent Investigative Mechanism (IIMM) of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) pointed out that women and children are particularly targeted by humanitarian crimes, stating, "Since the coup, attacks on civilians in Myanmar have been carried out on a widespread and systematic scale and manner."