Airstrikes in Myanmar leave 100 people dead

 

Burned out motorcycles and debris in the aftermath of the bombing. AP. 

An airstrike in Myanmar has left at least 100 people dead. AP. Myanmar had a military coup in 2021 and has spawned a protest movement. The site of the strike was being used as a ceremony site for opponents of the military regime. Myanmar has used airstrikes against opponents before and have killed 3000 people since coming into power. A fighter jet had dropped the bomb and about half an hour later a military helicopter appeared and also opened fire. 150 people were at the site when the attack occurred and among the dead were 20 to 30 children. Myanmar acknowledged the strike but accused the opponents of being terrorists and said there was a secondary explosion and was the result of weapons on the ground exploding. 

My Comment:

I don't have a whole lot of time to cover this story but I do think it is important to document this massacre. When 100 people are bombed and destroyed it's probably worth writing about. And then they had a helicopter come in to strafe the survivors. Not a good thing at all. 

I don't really believe Myanmar's claim that these people were rebels. It is possible there was a secondary explosion as the damage looked a bit severe for a single bombing, but the extra damage could have been caused by the helicopter attack as well. Generally speaking though, rebels don't bring their kids into their meetings with them, for this very reason. It's possible they were there as a security option, blowing up children is obviously bad press, but that seems unlikely. 

This isn't even the first time Myanmar has done this. Indeed, I wrote about a similar bombing last year. That bombing as pretty similar to this one, a large gathering of civilians in a non-violent event. They got bombed then and it just happened again, expect this time the government of Myanmar decided to follow up the bombing with a helicopter attack as well. That's probably why there have been more casualties in the 2nd attack. 

That incident makes me have a lot less sympathy for Myanmar's claims. Why would we believe that these people were violent terrorists if there was another incident that clearly was targeting civilians? I have little doubt that this attack was targeting civilians. 

I do say that the Myanmar regime opponents need to be a lot wiser about what they do on the ground. These large gatherings are very vulnerable to these kinds of attacks, and it's pretty clear that someone is informing the government when they happen. Not giving the government an opportunity to kill a hundred people is probably a good thing.