The toll of an air attack is terrible in Burma. At least 11 children were killed in the attack that destroyed a school in a village in the north of the country, Unicef announced on Tuesday, the ruling junta accusing local militias of using civilians as human shields.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemned” the attack, according to a statement from his spokesperson, who said the toll was “at least 13 people, including 11 children” killed. “Even during armed conflicts, schools must remain areas where children are protected, to learn,” he added. “Perpetrators of international crimes committed in Burma must be held accountable.”
Bloody repression
Since the February 1, 2021 coup that overthrew civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, chaos has reigned in Burma, where the ruling junta has been waging a bloody crackdown on its opponents, with nearly 2,300 civilians killed and more than 15,000 arrested, according to a local NGO. The Sagaing region in the North West has seen some of the fiercest clashes. Fighting between Burmese people opposed to the coup and the army led to the destruction of entire villages.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday condemned an air attack that occurred on Friday in the region. “On September 16, at least 11 children died as a result of an air strike and indiscriminate shooting in civilian areas, including a school in Depeyin, Sagaing region,” UNICEF Burma said. “At least 15 children from the same school have disappeared. Unicef calls for their immediate and safe release,” the UN agency continued.
Burma’s junta confirmed on Tuesday that it sent troops by helicopter last Friday to the village of Let Yet Kone, after receiving reports that fighters from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a rebel group militant for the independence of the eponymous people, and the anti-coup opposition brought arms to the region.
Conflicting versions
Several villagers were killed during the operation and the army seized mines and explosives in the village, according to the same source, which assures in a press release that the wounded were treated “with appropriate medical treatment”. A spokesman for the junta, Zaw Min Tun, assured Tuesday that the KIA rebels had taken with them civilians in a monastery from which they had fired, so as to dissuade the soldiers from replicating.
A resident of the village contacted by AFP, on the other hand, opposed another version: “The soldiers attacked the school. They said they were attacked, and they responded, but that’s not true,” he said on condition of anonymity for security reasons. According to this villager, the soldiers took several bodies with them and arrested an unknown number of people, including children and teachers.