Greater than 100 folks had been within the monastery for a non secular retreat, based on an area resident.
Printed On 21 Aug 2026
A army air strike has killed 14 folks at a Buddhist monastery in central Myanmar, an opposition group and an area resident have reported.
The assault occurred in Swel Le Oh village in Myaung township, about 75 kilometres (47 miles) west of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest metropolis, Nway Oo, a spokesperson for the Civil Protection and Safety Group of Myaung Township (CDSOM) stated Friday.
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A fighter jet bombed the village monastery’s compound, killing 14, together with three ladies, and injuring 20 extra, Nway Oo stated.
Greater than 100 folks had been staying in and across the monastery for a weeklong retreat for Buddhist Lent, based on an area villager who anonymously informed The Related Press information company that the airplane had dropped two bombs on the village quarter-hour aside.
The villager confirmed CDSOM’s dying toll of 14, and stated his mother-in-law was killed within the assault.
BBC’s Burmese Service and native media retailers reported the dying toll at between 10 and 14.
The army didn’t instantly touch upon the strike, however has beforehand stated it solely assaults reliable targets.
Myanmar has been embroiled in a close to countrywide civil war for the reason that military seized energy from the elected authorities in February 2021. After the army authorities violently suppressed peaceable demonstrations, many opponents of army rule took up arms.
The forces preventing in opposition to the federal government are made up of a diverse array of ethnically or politically divided armed groups, a few of which have existed for many years.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the 81-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy campaigner who served as Myanmar’s state counsellor (a job equal to prime minister), has been detained for the reason that army seized energy in 2021. She was moved to house arrest in April.
The battle has killed greater than 100,000 folks and displaced 5.2 million, based on the Washington-based Council on International Relations.
Resistance forces and ethnic armies management an estimated 42 p.c of the nation, in contrast with the army authorities’s 21 p.c.
Myaung township is within the Sagaing area, which is a stronghold of armed resistance in opposition to the army authorities.
The United Nations-established Impartial Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) stated in August that it noticed a notable escalation in aerial assaults previous the elections held in December and January, and that they’ve continued unabated afterwards.
Myanmar’s Ministry of International Affairs rejected the IIMM report, saying it solely targets “terrorists” and that safety forces train most restraint to keep away from civilian hurt.
