Maroc - EURASIAREVIEW.COM - A la une - 26/Feb 00:35

Myanmar Junta Bombs Rebel Wedding, At Least 10 Killed

Myanmar’s air force bombed a wedding party for two pro-democracy fighters on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people, members of the anti-junta force in the Magway region told Radio Free Asia. It was not immediately clear if the bride and groom, both members of an insurgent People’s Defense Force, or PDF, in Myaing township were among the casualties, they said. “They bombed the PDF wedding. They did it during refreshments in the monastery. It was a direct hit,” said one resident of Son Kone village where the attack occurred in the mid-morning. “The jet flew around there twice. There are many casualties and injuries,” said the resident, who declined to be identified for security reasons. Another resident, who also requested not to be named, told RFA that most of the dead were villagers “who were cooking for the wedding party.” “The bride and groom were acquainted with the locals, and they were helping in refreshment. So, most of the victims were these locals who helped cook for their wedding. We are still looking for the injured.” Other residents said the air force “dropped 500-pound bombs twice” in the area, and that the attacks “targeted oil fields” in Son Kone. RFA called Magway region’s junta spokesperson, Myo Myint, for information on the attack but he did not respond by the time of publication. However, pro-military accounts on the Telegram messaging app said that an attack had been launched on the wedding party and there were many casualties. Attack on the heartland Son Kone is about 140 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of the city of Mandalay, in a central heartland area that has seen a surge of violence since the military ousted an elected government in 2021. Anti-junta activists from the majority Burman community have formed PDFs, which are loyal to the parallel National Unity Government in exile, to battle to end military rule in alliance with ethnic minority insurgent groups, some of which have been fighting for self-determination for generations. The jet that attacked the wedding took off from the Meiktila Air Base, about 140 kilometers to the southeast, in neighboring Mandalay region, said a member of the Myaing PDF, of which both the bride and groom were soldiers. “The monastery is destroyed,” said the PDF member, who declined to be identified for security reasons. “About 10 people have been killed and there are a lot of wounded.” At least 1,000 residents of Son Kone and the nearby villages of Kyet Su Aint and Na That fled to safety during the attack, sources told RFA. A military helicopter was circling the area in the afternoon and villagers had yet to return to identify those killed, they said. Some 20,000 civilians fled from their homes in Magway’s Pwintbyu township, to the south of Myaing, early this month during days of heavy fighting between rebels and junta troops, residents said. According to data compiled by RFA, 1,769 were killed nationwide in 2024 by junta airstrikes and heavy artillery.