Myanmar Airstrike Kills 24 Protesters as Junta Escalates Attacks Ahead of Elections
At least 24 people were killed and 47 others wounded after Myanmar’s military dropped two bombs from a motorised paraglider on a peaceful protest, according to a spokesperson for the country’s government-in-exile, who spoke to BBC Burmese.
The deadly airstrike occurred on Monday evening in Chaung U township, located in Myanmar’s central Sagaing region, as roughly 100 civilians gathered to mark a national holiday. The attack underscores the junta’s growing use of unconventional aerial weapons and its escalating campaign against resistance groups and civilian demonstrators.
Civil War Enters a Deadlier Phase
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military coup of February 2021, when the army ousted the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, the nation has descended into civil war, with the junta facing widespread resistance from ethnic militias and local volunteer forces known as the People’s Defence Force (PDF).
According to humanitarian groups, thousands of civilians have been killed, and millions displaced as villages are bombarded, homes torched, and entire regions cut off from aid.
Despite initially losing control over much of the country, the military has recently begun regaining territory through an especially brutal campaign of airstrikes, artillery shelling, and scorched-earth tactics.
Sagaing, one of the regions hit hardest by the conflict, has become a central battlefield in this ongoing war. Much of the area is under the control of anti-junta forces, including the local PDF militias, which manage essential services in defiance of military rule.
‘It All Happened in Seven Minutes’
A PDF official in Chaung U told BBC Burmese that the local group had received intelligence about a potential airborne assault targeting the Monday gathering. Organizers tried to end the event early, but the paramotors—light aircraft equipped with small engines and parachutes—arrived sooner than expected.
“It all happened in seven minutes,” the official recalled. “I was injured in the leg, but people standing next to me were killed instantly.”
Eyewitnesses described scenes of devastation, with several bodies mutilated beyond recognition.
“Children were completely torn apart,” one of the event’s organizers told AFP, saying she attended funerals the following day and helped collect body parts.
Local residents said it was nearly impossible to identify victims due to the scale of the explosion. Many of the wounded remain in critical condition.
Amnesty Condemns ‘Disturbing Trend’ of Aerial Attacks
In a statement on Tuesday, Amnesty International condemned the attack, calling the junta’s use of motorised paragliders a “disturbing trend” in its expanding arsenal of terror tactics.
The human rights group noted that BBC Burmese had earlier reported an uptick in the junta’s use of paramotors and makeshift aircraft, likely due to shortages of conventional fighter planes and helicopters caused by international sanctions.
“These attacks highlight the urgent need for the global community to protect civilians in Myanmar,” said Joe Freeman, Amnesty’s Myanmar researcher. “The use of paragliders to drop explosives on peaceful gatherings should serve as a gruesome wake-up call to the world.”
Freeman urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is set to meet later this month, to intensify diplomatic pressure on the junta and revise its failed approach to resolving the nearly five-year conflict.
Foreign Support Fuelling the Junta’s Air Power
Despite growing isolation, Myanmar’s military has continued to acquire advanced drones and weapons systems from China and Russia, according to defense analysts. These technologies have given the junta an upper hand in targeting resistance-controlled regions and have enabled precision attacks like Monday’s deadly strike.
At the same time, Western sanctions have severely limited the junta’s ability to procure aircraft parts and fuel, forcing it to rely on smaller, low-cost alternatives such as paramotors, which can fly under radar and be easily deployed against soft targets like protest gatherings.
Protesters Were Demanding Freedom and Justice
The candlelight vigil targeted on Monday was intended as a peaceful protest. Demonstrators were calling for an end to military conscription, the release of political prisoners, and justice for victims of junta violence.
Among those they demanded to be freed was Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Myanmar’s former civilian leader, who has been imprisoned since the coup on what many consider politically motivated charges.
“We were gathering peacefully to remember the dead and demand freedom,” said a protest organizer. “We never imagined the army would bomb us from the sky.”
Elections Under Military Rule
Myanmar’s junta has announced plans to hold general elections in December, the first vote since the 2021 coup. Critics, however, have dismissed the upcoming election as a sham, designed to legitimize military rule and consolidate power under the guise of democracy.
International observers and opposition leaders argue that any vote held under current conditions—where political opponents are jailed, media are censored, and violence continues—is neither free nor fair.
The government-in-exile, known as the National Unity Government (NUG), has urged the international community to boycott the elections, describing them as “an attempt to deceive the world while the military continues to murder civilians.”
Mounting Pressure for International Action
Global human rights organizations and Western governments have repeatedly condemned the junta’s atrocities but have struggled to translate their criticism into effective action.
Amnesty International has called for a global arms embargo and for the United Nations Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
So far, no concrete steps have been taken to hold Myanmar’s generals accountable for the mass killings, torture, and airstrikes that have defined the conflict.
Freeman of Amnesty added, “The international community’s failure to act decisively has emboldened the junta. Every new atrocity, like the one in Chaung U, is a reminder of the cost of inaction.”
A Nation in Crisis
As Myanmar inches toward another disputed election, the suffering of its people continues to deepen. Villages remain under siege, civilians are trapped in war zones, and children are increasingly among the dead.
For many, Monday’s bombing was not just another attack—it was a devastating symbol of how far Myanmar has fallen since its brief democratic opening just a decade ago.
“This country has become a graveyard for its own people,” one survivor said. “We light candles for freedom, and the military answers with bombs.”