At least 11 schoolchildren died in an airstrike and gunfire at a village in Myanmar, the United Nations Children’s Agency said, an attack targeted by the country’s junta against rebels hiding in the area.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the military seized power in a coup last February. According to a local monitoring group, nearly 2,300 civilians were killed in a crackdown on dissidents.
The Sagaing region in the north-west of the country has seen some of the fiercest fighting, with entire villages burned to the ground in clashes between anti-coup militants and the military.
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, condemned the violence in the Depeyin community in Sagaing on Friday.
“On September 16, at least 11 children died in an airstrike and indiscriminate fire in civilian areas,” UNICEF said in a statement released Monday.
It states that schools must be safe and must never be attacked.
“At least 15 children from the same school are still missing,” UNICEF said, calling for their immediate safe release.
Video footage obtained by a local community group shows a classroom with blood on the floor, damage to the roof and a mother weeping over her son’s dead body.
– ‘They just attacked’ –
The junta said it sent troops in helicopters to the village of Let Yet Kone after receiving a tip that fighters from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) – an ethnic rebel group – and a local anti-coup militia were bringing weapons into the country The area.
The military accused the rebel fighters of using civilians as human shields and said it had confiscated mines and explosives from the village.
“Security members conducted necessary medical treatment and arranged to send patients to a nearby hospital,” the military said in a statement.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun on Tuesday accused the KIA of taking villagers to a monastery and firing on troops from there.
A villager contacted by AFP dismissed the military’s claims that there were militants in the area.
“They just attacked the school. They say someone attacked them and then they fought back, but that’s not true,” said the villager, who asked to remain anonymous for his own safety.
The villager said the military took away some of the bodies and arrested a number of people, including children and teachers.
Hassan Noor, regional director of Save the Children Asia, sent his condolences to the families and said schools should be locked down and student safety protected.
“How many more incidents like this have to happen before action is taken?” Noor said, urging the UN Security Council and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to act quickly.
ASEAN has made unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis, and its leaders will meet in Phnom Penh in November to discuss limited progress on a peace plan.
