Novice monk among five killed in junta airstrike on Sagaing Region monastery

The Myanmar air force bombed a Buddhist monastery in Sagaing Region’s Taze Township on Thursday, killing a 12-year-old novice and four other civilians, according to residents of the village struck by the air raid. Two fighter jets attacked the Mingalar Monastery in Thit Say Kone (South)—some eight miles north of Taze—starting around 10:30am, dropping bombs and strafing the ground with machine gun fire. Villagers present at the monastery or living nearby were caught in the bombing raid. In addition to the five killed, 14 people are injured and one novice monk is missing in addition to the one who was killed, according to a community elder. “The area around the monastery gets heavy foot traffic. There’s an auto repair shop nearby, so it’s a busy area,” the elder said. “The place has nothing to do with revolutionary groups or armed forces,” he continued. “Now, the monastery is in complete ruins. As to the two young novice monks, one of their bodies has been recovered. The other still can’t be found.” The targeted village is made up of around 200 households and contains two monasteries. The monastery on the south side of the village was the one hit in the attack. “It can be assumed they bombed the village today because the students at the village school have an exam. There was no other reason for them to carry out an airstrike,” the community elder said. “There were no military manoeuvres or fighting on the ground nearby.” Several other sources in the village confirmed there have not been any recent fighting or other activity by resistance forces in the area. The village’s administrator described the scene during the air raid. “During the first strike, an entire monastery building collapsed,” he said. “On the next pass, they fired off rockets as well as dropping bombs.” The targeted monastery served as a shelter for many internally displaced people who had previously fled their homes in the village of Sin Nge, some six miles to the southeast. A man rendering aid to the displaced people in Thit Say Kone (South) confirmed that a 12-year-old novice monk was among the people slain in the attack, along with two women in their 40s and two men in their 50s. He added that, with some of the injured now in critical condition, the death toll might rise. Victims of the aerial attack on Mingalar Monastery in Thit Say Kone (South) village, Taze Township. (Photo: Supplied) “There is a severely injured man over 70 years old. His abdomen was ruptured in the attack and it’s impossible to say whether he’ll survive,” he said. Another airstrike had occurred in Taze Township west of the urban centre on Monday, injuring two women, according to information from Infinity Group, an organisation of observers monitoring events in central Myanmar including Sagaing Region. Yet another airstrike hit a monastery in Thet Kei Kyin village, Monywa Township on Wednesday, killing two civilians and injuring four. The Myanmar military regularly attacks civilian targets such as hospitals, clinics, schools, and religious buildings with airstrikes, concentrating its firepower on central Myanmar, where the armed resistance against the junta is especially strong. The research group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) reported last Friday that 64 people had been killed by airstrikes throughout Myanmar in January, with the greatest number of casualties occurring in Sagaing Region. According to the anti-junta National Unity Government, more than 2,300 civilians were killed and more than 4,100 injured by junta airstrikes in 2025, during which time they also destroyed or severely damaged more than 3,500 buildings including 190 religious buildings, 190 schools, and 36 health facilities.

Novice monk among five killed in junta airstrike on Sagaing Region monastery

In addition to the novice monk and four others killed in the air raid, another novice monk has gone missing and 14 people sustained injuries

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