YANGON, Myanmar — At least 11 schoolchildren died in an air strike and firing on a
Myanmar
village, the UN children’s agency said, an attack the country’s junta said
targeted rebels hiding in the area.
اضافة اعلان
Myanmar has been in
chaos since the military seized power in a coup in February last year, with
nearly 2,300 civilians killed in a crackdown on dissent according to a local
monitoring group.
The Sagaing region
in the country’s northwest has seen some of the fiercest fighting, and clashes
between anti-coup fighters and the military have seen entire villages burned
down.
The UN children’s
agency
UNICEF condemned Friday’s violence in Depeyin township in Sagaing.
“On 16 September,
at least 11 children died in an air strike and indiscriminate fire in civilian
areas,” UNICEF said in a statement issued Monday.
It said schools
must be safe and never targeted.
“At least 15
children from the same school are still missing,” UNICEF said, calling for
their immediate safe release.
Video footage
obtained from a local community group shows a classroom with blood on the
floor, damage to the roof, and a mother crying over her son’s dead body.
‘They just attacked’
The junta said they had sent troops in helicopters to Let Yet Kone village
after receiving a tip-off that fighters from the
Kachin Independence Army (KIA) — an ethnic rebel group — and from a local anti-coup militia were moving
weapons in the area.
The military
accused the rebel fighters of using civilians as human shields, and said it had
seized mines and explosives from the village.
“Security members
gave necessary medical treatment and arranged to send patients to a nearby
hospital,” the military said in a statement.
Junta spokesman Zaw
Min Tun on Tuesday accused the KIA of taking villagers to a monastery and then
firing on troops from there.
A villager
contacted by AFP rejected the military’s suggestions there were fighters in the
area.
“They just attacked
the school. They say someone attacked them, then they fought back but this is
not true,” said the villager, who spoke on condition of anonymity for their own
safety.
The villager said
the military had taken away some of the bodies and detained several people,
including children and teachers.
Save the Children
Asia Regional Director Hassan Noor expressed condolences to the families and
said schools should be off-limits and the safety of students protected.
“How many more incidents like this need to take place before
action is taken?” Noor said, urging the
UN Security Council and Association of
South East Asian Nations to take swift action.
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