Myanmar has been in chaos since the military seized power in a coup two years ago
The United Nations on Tuesday condemned an airstrike attributed to the Burmese junta against a village in a rebel-held area, which reportedly left dozens dead.
The secretary general of the organization Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns the attack carried out today by the armed forces of Burma (and) demands that those responsible be held accountable for their actions”, declared his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric. Antonio Guterres “reiterates his call on the military to put an end to the campaign of violence against the Burmese population”, added the spokesman. Earlier, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said he was “horrified” after the attack, attributed to the junta.
“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,” Volker Turk said in a statement. a statement.
Several dozen victims
He described how “a helicopter gunship then allegedly fired on those fleeing the room”, then he reported reports that around 100 villagers were killed in the strikes early Tuesday morning in the Sagaing area, a opposition stronghold in the center of the country.
Witnesses also reported around 100 deaths. Videos circulating on social networks (whose authenticity our colleagues at AFP could not confirm) show bodies scattered in the ruins of houses.
Volker Turk accused the Burmese military of having once again ignored “clear legal obligations (…) to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities” and of showing “flagrant disregard for the relevant rules of international law”.
A country in crisis since the 2021 coup
Burma has been in chaos since the military seized power in a coup two years ago. The Sagaing region, near Mandalay, the country’s second largest city, is fiercely resisting the junta, and intense fighting has been going on there for months.
Volker Turk said there were “reasonable grounds to believe that the military and its affiliated militias are responsible for a wide range of human rights violations and abuses since February 1, 2021”.
