Dozens killed and wounded in Myanmar military air attacks

Witnesses and news reports say air raids by fighter aircraft and attack helicopters hit the Sagaing area, which is known for its opposition to military rule.

Myanmar’s military has launched air attacks on a central town known to be a bastion of opposition to the coup carried out two years ago.

Witnesses and local media said dozens of people were killed and wounded in the attack on Tuesday – one of the worst since the military seized control of the country.

Citing residents in the Sagaing area – about 110km (45 miles) west of the main city Yangon – news reports said ­­­­­­­­at least 50 people, including children, died in the barrage on the town of Pazigyi.

The air raids occurred as residents gathered for the inauguration of an administrative office, Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng reported from Thailand’s capital Bangkok.

“At 7:35am the crowd was attacked by jets and those were followed by Mi-35 helicopters,” said Cheng, citing one rescuer at the scene.

“He confirmed 40 dead but he suspects the death toll will rise considerably – the carnage there was terrible. All the reports we’re seeing is that these were civilians, and far from being a legitimate military target.”

No immediate response from Myanmar’s military rulers was available.

Three first responders were killed in a second attack while rescue work was being carried out, Cheng reported.

“So far the exact number of casualties is still unknown. We cannot retrieve all the bodies yet,” said the PDF member, who declined to be identified.

Myanmar’s pro-democracy government-in-exile, the National Unity Government, condemned the attack, calling it “yet another example of [the military’s] indiscriminate use of extreme force against civilians”.

Tuesday’s incident could be one of the deadliest among a string of air strikes since a jet attacked a concert in October killing at least 50 civilians, local singers, and members of an armed ethnic minority group in Kachin state.