UN Human Rights lawyer asks : How many Myanmar people need to die before world leaders take strong, coordinated action to stop this carnage?” Kanbalu Township- Sagaing Division Narinjara News, 12 April, 2023 (Narinjara) and other sources Ghastly scenes have been recounted by eye-witness survivors of the massacre of a 300 -strong crowd gathered at Pazigyi village, Kanbalu Township of Sagaing Division on April 11th.
An eyewitness, who hid in a tunnel during the attack, described a scene of horror as he approached the site of the military airstrike – of children dying, women screaming, and bodies heaped on the ground.
At least 100 people, including women and children, were killed after Myanmar’s military junta bombed Kanbalu township in the central Sagaing region on Tuesday, according to the Kyunhla activist group, which was at the scene.
The group said at least 20 children were killed in the strike and 50 people injured.
About 300 people had gathered in Pazigyi Village early on Tuesday morning to celebrate the opening of a local administration office , Families had traveled from nearby villages for the event, where tea and food was offered.
The new office was being opened under the authority of the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), for the people, as part of the anti-junta resistance which coincided with the start of the Thingyan New Year celebrations.
Local residents have claimed that the Military Council conducted another airstrike in Pazigyi village, located in Kanbalu Township of Sagaing Division, at 5:00 p.m.”
“ From 5:35 p.m. to 5:40 p.m., the jet fighter flew 3 times for 5 minutes and dropped 4 more bombs. Houses were also bombed. I think they keep shooting so that we don’t pick up the bodies or leave any evidence. We are unable to pick up the bodies because of the continuous airstrikes,”said a local who was assisting in the picking up of the bodies on April 11 after 6:00 p.m.
Myanmar’s junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun confirmed the airstrike on Pazigyi Village and said if civilian casualties occurred it was because they were forced to help “terrorists,” Reuters reported.
The international community, including the UN Secretary General, has criticized the actions of the Military Council, and labeled it as a war crime. The strike was condemned internationally, with one top UN official saying global indifference to the situation in Myanmar contributed to the attack.
Tom Andrews, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar lamented ,“The Myanmar military’s attacks against innocent people, including today’s airstrike in Sagaing, is enabled by world indifference and those supplying them
with weapons. How many Myanmar children need to die before world leaders take strong, coordinated action to stop this carnage?”
