Myanmar military bombing kills 14 at Buddhist monastery, opposition reports

By Al Jazeera Staff and AP.

Key points

• The war has killed more than 100, 000 individuals and displaced 5.2 million, according to the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.
• BBC's Burmese Service and local media outlets documented the death toll at between 10 and 14.
• Myanmar has been embroiled in a near countrywide civil war since the army seized power from the elected administration in February 2021.
• A military air strike has killed 14 individuals at a Buddhist monastery in central Myanmar, an opposition group and a local resident have noted.
• A fighter jet bombed the village monastery's compound, killing 14, including three women, and injuring 20 more, Nway Oo remarked.

Notably, a military air strike has killed 14 individuals at a Buddhist monastery in central Myanmar, an opposition group and a local resident have noted.

Meanwhile, the attack occurred in Swel Le Oh village in Myaung township, regarding 75 kilometres (47 miles) west of Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, Nway Oo, a spokesperson for the Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung Township (CDSOM) stated Friday.

In practice, a fighter jet bombed the village monastery's compound, killing 14, including three women, and injuring 20 more, Nway Oo remarked.

More than 100 individuals were staying in and around the monastery for a weeklong retreat for Buddhist Lent, according to a local villager who anonymously informed The Associated Press news agency that the plane had dropped two bombs on the village 15 minutes apart.

In practice, the villager confirmed CDSOM's death toll of 14, and remarked his mother-in-law was killed in the attack.

Meanwhile, the military did not immediately comment on the strike, but has previously remarked it only attacks legitimate targets.

Myanmar has been embroiled in a near countrywide civil war since the army seized power from the elected administration in February 2021. After the military administration violently suppressed peaceful demonstrations, numerous opponents of military rule took up arms.

Notably, the forces fighting against the administration are produced up of a diverse array of ethnically or politically divided armed groups, some of which have existed for decades.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the 81-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy campaigner who served as Myanmar's state counsellor (a role equivalent to prime minister), has been detained since the military seized power in 2021. She was moved to house arrest in April.

Notably, the war has killed more than 100, 000 individuals and displaced 5.2 million, according to the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.

Resistance forces and ethnic armies control an estimated 42 percent of the country, compared with the military government's 21 percent.

Myaung township is in the Sagaing region. It is a stronghold of armed resistance against the military administration.

Notably, the United Nations-established Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) remarked in August that it observed a notable escalation in aerial attacks preceding the elections held in December and January, and that they have continued unabated afterwards.

Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the IIMM report, saying it only targets "terrorists" and that security forces exercise maximum restraint to avoid civilian harm.

For now, myanmar military bombing kills 14 at Buddhist monastery, opposition reports remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.