Four children, one man killed in Myanmar junta airstrikes on Karenni schools

A man and four children were killed and at least 19 others were injured when Myanmar military fighter jets dropped bombs over two schools in Karenni (Kayah) State’s Demoso Township on Monday, according to resistance authorities and rights groups. The bombs struck schools in the villages of Daw Si Ei and Loi Nan Hpa, located about one mile apart in the western part of the township, between 10:15 and 11:20am, the sources said. Four children between the ages of 11 and 13 were killed and 14 other students were injured when a 500-pound bomb fell on the school in Daw Si Ei, burying desks, chairs, books, and backpacks under the rubble of concrete blocks, the anti-regime Karenni Interim Executive Council said in a statement. In Loi Nan Hpa, another airstrike and heavy artillery fire left one man dead and five others, including two teachers, injured, the statement added, noting that six school buildings, a church, and five dwellings were severely damaged by the aerial assault. The interior of the school in Daw Si Ei after it was hit by a junta airstrike on February 5 (KHRG) A volunteer at the school who survived the attack said that he and a group of students took cover under a small concrete bridge when they heard the sound of explosions from nearby Daw Si Ei. “I saw two fighter jets. The first one flew in at a low angle, dropping 500-pound bombs, followed by another one that strafed the school,” he said. Schools and clinics are frequent targets of junta attacks in parts of Karenni State controlled by the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force and other resistance forces, which have overrun at least 20 junta military positions since they launched an anti-regime offensive known as Operation 1111 on November 11 of last year. On Tuesday, the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) released a statement condemning the regime’s latest deadly attack on civilian targets and pledging to work with others to hold those responsible for such atrocities accountable. In September 2022, airstrikes carried out using Mi-35 combat helicopters left at least 12 people, including seven children, dead at a monastic school in Letyetkone, a village in Sagaing Region’s Depayin Township. According to the NUG, more than 630 children under the age of 18 have lost their lives due to violence perpetrated by the military regime since it seized power in February 2021. It also claimed that junta airstrikes were responsible for the destruction of at least 52 schools since the coup, while nearly 200 more have been destroyed by artillery or arson attacks. Funeral services were held on Tuesday morning for the children killed in Daw Si Ei, according to Ko Benya of the Karenni Human Rights Group. “Clearly, this was a deliberate attack. They deployed scout planes to survey the area first and then carried out multiple air and artillery strikes. So it’s undeniable that the schools were intentionally targeted,” he said.

Four children, one man killed in Myanmar junta airstrikes on Karenni schools

The regime routinely targets schools, clinics and other civilian infrastructure in areas under the control of resistance forces

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