On 11 April 168 people were killed in deadliest attack since coup as locals were celebrating opening of village hall
t was supposed to be an opportunity for local people to gather and share food. After more than two years of turmoil following the 2021 military coup, hundreds of locals from neighbouring villages had been invited to Pa Zi Gyi to celebrate the opening of a new village hall, which had been set up by the junta’s domestic opponents. Families – from young toddlers and pregnant women to grandparents – had set off early to attend.
While the death toll was higher than previous strikes, such attacks are not uncommon. The military, which has struggled to suppress a determined armed resistance to its rule, has“It’s not an isolated incident,” said Aung Myo Min, the NUG’s human rights minister. Last week’s violence has prompted renewed calls for stronger measures to stop the flow of aviation fuel and funding to the military. The weakness of the international response was empowering the military to continue its attacks, said Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a prominent anti-coup activist. “I think this is giving them impunity and a sense of confidence that the international community will always be paper tigers,” she said. “This must end.
“I came running out of smoke and started looking for my daughter desperately,” he said, adding that another military helicopter appeared and began shooting. He hid under a bridge. By the time he was able to emerge, the scene was one of devastation. Military-controlled Myawaddy TV said last week’s attack had occurred outside Pa Zi Gyi village, on a building that the NUG planned to use. The military struck a weapons storage facility, it said, and explosions from such weapons had added to fatalities. Those who died were resistance fighters, the junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said, adding that “people who were forced to support them probably died as well”.
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