Seven killed in Myanmar junta airstrike on school in Depayin

A regime airstrike on a school in Sagaing Region’s Depayin Township on Saturday left at least seven people dead and another 23 injured, according to local sources. The attack, on the village of Ma Gyi Oak, appeared to target resistance forces and local civilians using a Starlink satellite connection to access the internet, the sources said. “Both civilians and [anti-junta fighters] were using the internet there when the military carried out its airstrike on the school,” said Ko Phyo, the leader of Depayin Brothers, a local resistance group. Four of the dead were members of the Depayin Township People’s Defence Team (PDT), which operates under the command of the National Unity Government’s Ministry of Defence, he added. The PDT members who were killed were identified as Kyaw Zin Win, 25, Min Khant Thu, 21, Ko Okka Bo, 19, and Kyae Sin, 18. The civilians were Ohn Than, 55, Thet Aung, 37, and San Lin, 25. Among the injured, seven people were said to be in critical condition. Internet connectivity has been cut off in many parts of Myanmar since the military seized power more than three years ago. In some resistance strongholds, however, locals have been able to use the services of Starlink, a subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX, to connect to the internet. The regime has not released a statement about the attack on Saturday, but pro-junta social media accounts have claimed that its target was a drone training camp. A PDT officer acknowledged that there is such a camp near Ma Gyi Oak, but said that it was nowhere near the school. “We can assume that they [the military] received some specific information. They didn’t just drop bombs, they also fired [on the school] with machine guns, not wasting any bullets anywhere else,” he said. A member of a village PDT group said it had been notified that a junta fighter jet was heading in their direction from Tada-U airport near Mandalay, but no alarms were raised because military aircraft routinely pass over the area. “It’s not unusual around here, so we didn’t expect the attack. It wasn’t until it started approaching the village that we realised that we might be the target,” he said. According to local sources, the jet passed over the village twice, dropping two bombs each time, before returning to strafe the area around the school with machine guns. Last week, the regime carried out a similarly precise attack in Magway Region’s Saw Township, targeting a monastery in the village of Akyi Pan Pa Lun during a meeting attended by local civilian administrators and resistance fighters. At least 16 people were killed in that attack, and another 30 injured.

Seven killed in Myanmar junta airstrike on school in Depayin

The attack appeared to target a group of civilians and resistance fighters who had gathered to use a Starlink satellite internet connection

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