 "People in central Myanmar’s Monywa district marked the annual Thadingyut festival with celebrations in 2024.")
At least 24 people died and 47 others were injured after a motor-powered paraglider dropped two bombs on a crowd celebrating a Buddhist festival in Chaung U township on Monday evening, according to a BBC report citing a spokesperson from Myanmar’s exiled National Unity Government.
The attack occurred during the Thadingyut festival—a national holiday rooted in Buddhist tradition—when around 100 people had gathered in Chaung U.
A local official from the anti-junta People’s Defence Force told the BBC that the bombs were dropped directly onto the crowd.
The festival, while primarily a Buddhist celebration, also served as a site for a candlelight vigil protesting the junta’s policies. Myanmar has been engulfed in civil war since the military overthrew the elected government in 2021. According to United Nations estimates, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 5,000 civilians.
An official from the People’s Defence Force (PDF) stated that they had been tipped off about a possible air attack during the Thadingyut festival.
“They arrived and dropped the bomb within just seven minutes. When the first bomb dropped, I fell to the ground, but it hit the lower part of my knee. There were people killed beside me,” the official said.
Amnesty International issued a statement condemning the junta’s use of motorised paragliders (paramotors) to launch attacks on communities, calling it a “disturbing trend” in the region.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“The sickening reports emerging from the ground in central Myanmar following a nighttime attack late on Monday should serve as a gruesome wake-up call that civilians in Myanmar need urgent protection,” read a statement by Amnesty International.
“This would be the latest in a long line of attacks that stretch back almost five years to the start of the 2021 military coup,” it continued.
“As the military attempts to solidify power with a stage-managed election later this year, it is intensifying an already brutal campaign against pockets of resistance.”
Last week, Rohingya Muslims took part in the first-ever high-level United Nations meeting focused on their situation, urging the international community to stop the ongoing mass killings in Myanmar and support the persecuted group in rebuilding normal lives.