Fourteen Mostly Elderly Meditators Killed as Regime Bombs Monastery in Sagaing
Myanmar junta airstrikes targeted a Buddhist holy day meditation session in Sagaing Region’s Myaung Township on Friday morning, killing at least 14 civilians and injuring more than 20, according to local residents.
A regime fighter jet dropped four 250-lb bombs on Swel Lel Oh Village’s monastery, which was in the midst of holding a five-day mediation retreat, at 9:15 a.m. on Friday—an Ubok Nei, one of the four monthly lunar observance days, sometimes referred to as a “Buddhist Sabbath.”
Swel Lel Oh is just over 7 km from Myaung town.
The aerial bombardment killed 11 men and 3 women, mostly senior citizens staying in dormitories for meditators, Ko Nway Oo of the Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung (CDSOM), which is helping survivors, told The Irrawaddy on Friday evening.
“As soon as the morning sermon ended and the monks had returned to their quarters, they [the fighter jets] bombed the meditators’ dormitories,” Ko Nway Oo said.
Most of the bombs struck the men’s dorm, he said, adding that more than 20 wounded people, some with severe injuries, were sent to a hospital.
Another resident said the regime fighter jets bombed the monastery twice. He said eight men and two women died on the spot, with the remaining dying at the hospital.
Local residents said the monastery is currently sheltering nearly 70 flood victims in addition to the meditators.
The attack follows a regime airstrike on Myaung Township on Wednesday that killed two volunteer teachers and injured 16 people.
On Monday, four regime suicide drones targeted two flood-hit villages in Ayadaw Township, Sagaing Region, killing one villager and injuring 11, according to Ayadaw Township-People’s Defense Force group.
Comments