Rocket, incendiary bomb, gunfire: Junta airstrike on Magway monastery was precise and premeditated, locals say

Content Warning: This report contains a graphic image of bodies that may be upsetting to some readers. We advise discretion in viewing this content. A lethal junta airstrike targeting a monastery in Magway Region’s Saw Township last week was systematic and likely informed by intelligence gathered by the military, according to accounts from survivors and local rescue workers. The aerial attack took place on May 9 in Akyi Pan Pa Lun village, around five miles north of the town of Kyaukhtu. It is claimed as a liberated area by the anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF), whose members were attending a meeting alongside civilians in the monastery at the time of the assault. At least 15 people were killed and 34 others—including a monk—were injured, according to the Saw Township People’s Administration Team, which, like the PDF, operates under the publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG). “The point they were aiming for was very clear,” said a man from Saw who provided assistance to the victims despite being wounded himself. “This attack could not have been possible without prior leaked information.” The individual, who was at the monastery and escaped with a cut to the head, added that there were three separate strikes which seemed aimed at “destroying the target completely.” Myanmar Now has learned that each attack, carried out minutes apart, deployed different weaponry: the first, a type of rocket; the second, an incendiary bomb; and the third, gunfire. Three locals also said that a junta drone was seen scouting the village in the morning before the meeting began. “They are using drones to surveil our villages nearly every day,” a resident of the township said, describing the devices as “advanced” and operating with “no sound at all,” making them difficult to spot. Despite its proximity to Kyaukhtu, which remains under military control and hosts an artillery battalion and an air force base, Akyi Pan Pa Lun and its monastery were considered relatively safe by locals. The primary recent threat had been artillery fire from the Kyaukhtu-based battalion, but ground troops have not advanced into the area since last year due to the presence of resistance forces in rural Saw and in neighbouring Mindat in Chin State. A representative of Saw’s People’s Administration Team said that the May 9 attack highlighted gaps in security measures, and he added that he did not know the meeting in question was taking place until it became a military target. It was attended by around 60 people, including villagers, members of the area’s resistance forces, and local administration team members, reportedly to “address local issues with some discussion on providing assistance to revolutionary forces,” according to a resident. “As far as I know, the meeting was attended by trusted individuals but there might be shortcomings in the security arrangements,” the administration team member explained. “We usually avoid gathering large crowds for meetings due to the risk of being targeted by junta shells. We also only became aware of the meeting after the airstrikes occurred.” Satellite map showing the location of the targeted monastery NUG telecommunications minister Htin Lin Aung said that there could be a range of sources for the junta’s advance knowledge of the meeting: an information leak through a local informant, reconnaissance from drones monitoring the area, or user data gathered from nearby mobile phone towers. “One of these things could be the reason why the attacks were so precise and their intelligence was so accurate,” he told Myanmar Now. “There is also speculation that the mobile signal towers which both our troops and the junta’s forces rely on for communication could have enabled the junta to detect our movements.” A planned attack “When I arrived at the monastery, the fire was still raging. I saw at least nine charred bodies near the entrance,” one local said of the aftermath of the airstrike, which left residents of Akyi Pan Pa Lun afraid to return to their homes. Villagers who were involved in the rescue efforts following the attack described a chilling scene with few survivors, one of whom was Maung Maung. A man in his 40s, he found himself trapped under the collapsed monastery after the first attack. He attributed his survival to having sustained only minor injuries, and was therefore able to flee before the second strike incinerated the site. “The whole building collapsed when the first bomb hit,” he said. “When I was trapped under the rubble, I heard people desperately shouting for help. Fortunately, I managed to escape through a small hole under a heap of debris.” The shouts stopped after the second attack, which he said was carried out just two minutes after the first and burnt those who were not able to get out of the wreckage, leaving many of the bodies unidentifiable. PDF members and locals search for, collect, and examine the remains of people killed in the monastery airstrike (Myanmar Now) Finally, the jet fighter swooped down and strafed the monastery and surrounding area with bullets. “I believe they got information about the location of the gathering in advance and planned to attack and eliminate all of us,” Maung Maung said. Over the last three years, the military has launched repeated airstrikes targeting villages, schools, hospitals, and religious buildings nationwide. On April 25, a junta warplane bombed the Wammathu village hospital in Mindat Township, Chin State, killing four patients and a staff member, and destroying the facility. Last year, nearly 100 people, including 34 children, were killed in the aerial bombing of Pa Zi Gyi village in Sagaing Region’s Kanbalu Township; at the time of the attack, the Kanbalu People's Administration Team was holding an opening ceremony for its new office.

Rocket, incendiary bomb, gunfire: Junta airstrike on Magway monastery was precise and premeditated, locals say

In three aerial attacks moments apart, the military bombed the structure, set it ablaze, then strafed the area with bullets

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