Time Recognizes Myanmar’s Leader as 24 Women and 38 Children Slaughtered

Humanitarian relief officials and local leaders have reported that the death toll from an air strike on a village in central Myanmar has increased to at least 170. The onslaught on Tuesday morning nearly wiped out the village of Pa Zi Gyi in Myanmar’s Sagaing region, controlled by forces opposed to the military junta.

Dozens of locals had gathered to celebrate the opening of a new administrative complex constructed with the assistance of the People’s Defence Force (PDF), an anti-junta paramilitary group.

Military officials stated that an operation against “terrorists” — their euphemism for anyone who opposes the regime — had occurred in the area. They claimed that the high number of casualties was caused by the explosion of a rebel weapons stockpile and that PDF fighters exploited civilians as human shields.

Rescue workers contradicted the version, pointing out the attack’s intentional and thorough character. It started with a Mig 35 jet fighter dropping bombs, then a Mi-35 helicopter strafing the area and shooting down hundreds of people.

A villager involved in cremating the dead, who begged not to be identified to safeguard his safety, said on Friday that his team’s mortality count had been raised to 171 from 130 the day before.

According to him, 109 males, 24 women, and 38 children were slaughtered. Another 53 injured people were being treated, he said.

The National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow organization dominated by former MPs from the civilian government deposed in a military coup in February 2021, presented a graphic on Friday showing 168 dead.

Myanmar’s, Pa Zi Gyi has become a ghost town, as more than 800 people of the 100-home community have fled and are too afraid to return as another attack approaches, according to resident Ko Myo.

“We have brought in car tires [to build pyres],” he stated on Thursday. “We had to [cremate] quickly because the military planes were still flying around.” Before we go, we must collect as many dead as possible and cremate them.”

Nway Oo, a rescue worker, told RFA Burmese that rescuers were struggling to sort through unidentified corpses in the face of a continuous military onslaught.

“The gender of some bodies cannot be determined,” stated Nway Oo. “Some of their bodies were so disfigured that it was impossible to tell whether they were men or women.”

Myanmar has been in civil dissaray since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian administration two years ago, with an estimated 3,200 people dead as part of the regime’s assault on the opposition.

This week’s incident, which occurred on the eve of Thingyan, the traditional water celebration, sparked widespread anger. Myanmar’s former colonial master, the United Kingdom, has requested a United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss the event.

ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which has led so far futile diplomatic efforts to address the Myanmar conflict, vehemently criticized Thursday’s air attacks.

“All forms of violence on civilians must end immediately, particularly the bombing and buring of villages,” the Asean chair stated.

“Any attack on civilians is reprehensible and cannot be condoned,” Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in a separate Twitter message. Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has yet to respond to the Myanmar bombing.

Local people and defense group members in central Myanmar cremate dead in Pa Zi Gyi on the morning of April 13, two days after the site was attacked in a military bombardment, according to an image captured by a local citizen journalist and shared with Myanmar Now.

The Sagaing region near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, is a rebel stronghold. It has put up some of the most ferocious resistance to military control, with months of intensive conflict.

The junta stated on Wednesday that it had launched “limited” air strikes in the area, blaming some of the deaths on anti-junta rebels planting mines. It also stated on Friday that rebels used a drone to launch four bombs in Kywe Pon village, also in the Sagaing district, killing eight people and injuring 31 others.

In a similar event, opponents of the junta have expressed fury over Time magazine’s decision to include coup leader Min Aung Hlaing on its newest list of the World’s 100 Most Influential People.

Most of those chosen for the annual honor are political officials, activists, and entertainers noted for their beneficial impact, while people with particularly negative influence, such as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, have also been chosen.

According to the caption accompanying his photo, Min Aung Hlaing meets the latter description: “Min Aung Hlaing has returned Myanmar to a pariah state and made it the world’s second most authoritarian regime, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2022 Democracy Index.” Only Taliban-ruled Afghanistan came in lower.”

Thousands, Including More than 800 Children Flee Fighting Myanmar

Thousands, Including More than 800 Children Flee Fighting Myanmar