At least 24 people were killed and more than 50 others wounded in a deadly aerial attack in central Myanmar on Monday night, after a motorized paraglider dropped bombs on a peaceful gathering in Bon To village, located in the Sagaing region, AP reported.
The attack occurred during a Buddhist festival that doubled as a public call for the release of political prisoners. Eyewitnesses said over 100 people were present when the bombs were dropped over a school compound. Efforts to disperse the crowd failed before the explosives detonated. The paraglider reportedly returned shortly after to drop additional bombs.
Local sources said many of the dead were civilians, including children. Some estimates place the death toll as high as 40.
Myanmar’s military junta, which seized power in a 2021 coup, has increasingly employed airpower to suppress opposition-held territories. Resistance sources claim the regime has used motorized paragliders in several previous attacks, viewing them as a low-cost tool for precision strikes against soft targets.
Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, strongly condemned the strike, accusing the junta of deliberately targeting noncombatants. The junta has yet to issue a statement regarding the bombing.
Myanmar’s conflict has intensified in recent months, with large swaths of territory slipping from military control. The latest attack has renewed calls for international intervention to protect civilians from further atrocities.