Three monks dead as junta bombs monasteries during Myanmar’s Buddhist New Year

Airstrikes by Myanmar’s military killed at least four people, including three monastics, in Sagaing Region during this week’s traditional Buddhist New Year period, according to sources. On Monday, the regime bombed the Tike Thit Monastery in Seikkhun, a village in Shwebo Township, killing two temporarily ordained monks and a novice, a member of a local resistance group in Shwebo Township told Myanmar Now. “There was no ground fighting going on when they attacked the monastery,” he said, adding that one of the victims was killed instantly, while the other two died in the hospital. The aerial assault, which took place at around 3pm, also injured five other monks and destroyed several monastery buildings, he added. Seikkhun is a large village of more than 2,000 households, located about eight miles west of the junta-controlled town of Shwebo. Known for its weaving industry, it has 26 monasteries. There were also reports that Shwebo-based Infantry Battalion 42 fired on a monastery in the village of Thitgyitaw on Wednesday, injuring a monk and one other civilian. A day after the attack on Seikkhun, another civilian was killed by bombs dropped on Yinmaungtaing, a village in Salingyi Township located near the Sagaing Region capital Monywa, according to local sources. “At around 6pm yesterday, two paramotors coming from the Northwestern Command dropped some bombs here. One local man was killed,” a resident of the area said on Wednesday. The Northwestern Regional Military Command, based in Monywa, also launched airstrikes in nearby Ayadaw Township on Tuesday and Wednesday, sources there said. Resistance forces based in the area warned residents to avoid using main roads in and around the town of Ayadaw. Meanwhile, the regime also carried out a series of airstrikes near Taungdwin in Mingin Township early Wednesday morning, according to local resistance sources. It was unknown at the time of reporting if there were any casualties from those attacks. An information officer for the Mingin Township People’s Defence Organisation said that the constant threat of airstrikes had dampened the usual Thingyan, or Buddhist New year, festivities. “There isn’t much joy compared to previous Thingyan festivals. There are almost no water-splashing pavilions for children. We always have to keep our ears open for the sound of planes,” the information officer said. Myanmar’s military has intensified its campaign of airstrikes in resistance-held areas since the start of the year, following elections aimed at forming a “civilian” government led by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing. In March, airstrikes killed at least 483 civilians and injured 418, according to data released by the National Unity Government’s Ministry of Human Rights.

Three monks dead as junta bombs monasteries during Myanmar’s Buddhist New Year

The regime’s campaign of airstrikes on resistance-held territory in Sagaing Region continued throughout the Thingyan holidays

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