Children among 11 people killed in Myanmar in military jet bombing

Bomb reportedly fell on building where children were studying

FILE: This aerial photo taken on 29 October 2021 show smokes and fires from Thantlang, in Chin State, where more than 160 buildings have been destroyed caused by shelling from Junta military troops, according to local media (AFP via Getty Images)

Air strikes allegedly carried out by Myanmar’s military killed 11 civilians, including eight children, in a village in the country’s Chin state, officials from the administration of the area said.

Two Myanmar military fighter jets bombed the village at 7.30pm on Wednesday, killing six boys and two girls between the ages of 5 and 12, along with their teacher and two villagers, authorities in Matupi township of Chin State told The Irrawaddy.

Villagers said bombs were dropped by two military jets on buildings in the mountainous Vuilu region that has fewer than 80 households. A church and 18 houses in the village were reportedly damaged.

One of the bombs fell on a building where children were studying, killing eight children, reported the Associated Press.

Myanmar has been emroiled in a bloody civil war since February in which the junta crushed the rebels with violence and arbitrary detention.

The Chin state is the centre of an armed struggle against the country’s military rule since Myanmar’s army takeover and communities here were among the first to take up arms against the junta after the coup in 2021.

Myannar’s military continues to fight with the guerrillas of the Chin Defence Force near the country’s border with India.

However an alliance of rebel forces joined hands and launched an offensive in the junta-controlled areas on the border with China in Shan State last month and have captured over 100 military outposts.

Over 50,000 civilians have been displaced since in the two weeks since the offensive began, according to the UN.

“Essential roads are obstructed by checkpoints operated by both sides, while phone and Internet services are disrupted. The main airport in Lashio, the area’s largest town, has been closed since the fighting escalated,” the UN said in a statement.

Junta president Myint Swe warned last week that the country “will be split into various parts” if the situation was not contained.