Airstrike on Myanmar monastery kills 14

Debris litters the ground at a Buddhist monastery after an airstrike hit Swel Le Oh village in Myaung Township of Sagaing region in Myanmar on Aug 21, 2026. (Photo: @SanTun65319682 X account)

A Myanmar military airstrike on a monastery where civilians were gathered for a meditation retreat marking Buddhist Lent has killed 14 people, two rebel fighters who witnessed the aftermath said.

The airstrike on Friday hit a monastery hall around 9am in Myaung township of central Sagaing region, killing 11 men and three women, according to Nway Oo Myaung, a pro-democracy rebel who helped clear bodies.

“Older people had entered the meditation centre for three months” to mark the period of Buddhist Lent, which roughly coincides with Myanmar’s rainy season, he said on Friday.