The airstrike carried out by Burmese government forces in the Sagaing region in the center of the country on Tuesday left at least 130 dead according to new estimates, and was “strongly condemned” Thursday by ASEAN.
The authorities have not yet given any assessment of this attack.
Questioned by AFP on Thursday on condition of anonymity, a villager participating in the rescue said he had counted and identified 130 bodies.
Human remains littered the affected area around the village of Pazi Gyi, sometimes making identification difficult, he said.
“
We are using old tires to cremate the bodies
,” the witness told AFP.
According to him, there are still 28 missing.
Several media, the BBC in Burmese,
The Irrawady
and Radio Free Asia, also mentioned the figure of 130 dead, while the United Nations speaks of at least a hundred dead.
CNN meanwhile speaks of more than 160 dead, citing a figure given by a former deputy now exiled.
Flagrant disregard for the rules of international law
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Wednesday he was “
horrified
” by this attack carried out in “
flagrant disregard for the rules of international law.
"
It seems that children who were dancing, along with other civilians, during the opening ceremony of a center in Pazi Gyi village, Kanbalu district, were among the victims," said
Mr. Turk in a statement.
The ruling junta acknowledged, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, "
that there could be people wearing civilian clothes
", without mentioning a balance sheet, through its spokesman, Zaw Min Tun.
But the military has insisted it is targeting a gathering of armed opponents - the opening of an office of the People's Defense Forces (PDF), which it calls "
terrorists
".
Some of the dead were uniformed anti-coup fighters, the representative said.
“
According to the information we have obtained on the ground, the people killed are not just because of our attack.
There were mines planted by the PDF around this area
,” junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said.
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Violence against civilians
On Thursday, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), criticized for its inaction on the crisis in Burma, "strongly condemned"
the
deadly air attacks, according to a statement issued by Indonesia, which chairs organization this year.
"
All forms of violence must cease immediately, in particular the use of force against civilians
," the statement added.
A press release issued by the President of the Association does not necessarily mean that all its members agree.
Burma is itself still a member of ASEAN, even if the president of the junta was refused to attend the summits.
The Burmese junta overthrew the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, suppressing opponents and armed groups in operations that left more than 3,200 dead, according to a local human rights monitoring organization.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the Burmese military has carried out a total of 689 attacks by aircraft or drones since the coup.
