Military helicopters opened fire on a school, killing six children in Myanmar

At least six children were killed and 17 wounded when army helicopters opened fire on a school in Myanmar, media and residents said today, with the army saying it opened fire because insurgents were using the building to attack its forces.

Myanmar has been mired in violence since the military overthrew an elected government early last year. Opposition groups, some armed, have since emerged across the country, which the military has met with deadly force.

Reuters could not independently confirm details of the violence that took place on Friday in the village of Let Get Kone in central Saengeng province.

According to information reported by the Mizzima and Irrawaddy news portals, military helicopters opened fire on the school housed in a Buddhist monastery in the village.

Some children were killed on the spot, while others died after the soldiers entered the village, the information said.

Two residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said by phone that the bodies were later taken by the army to a town 11 km away and buried.

Images posted on social media show damage, including bullet holes, as well as bloodstains in a school building.

In a statement, the military said the Katsina Independence Army (KAIA), a rebel group, and the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), an umbrella group of armed rebels the junta calls “terrorists,” were hiding in the monastery and using the village in order to transport weapons to the area.

Security forces sent in by helicopters carried out a “surprise inspection” and were attacked by DAL and SAK inside houses and the monastery, it said.

According to the same source, the security forces responded and said that some villagers were killed in the clashes and that the injured were taken to public hospitals for treatment. The statement accused armed groups of using villagers as human shields and said weapons including 16 improvised explosive devices were later seized.

In a statement issued after Friday’s violence, Myanmar’s pro-democracy shadow government, known as the Government of National Unity, blamed the junta for targeted attacks on schools.

KEE also called for the release of 20 students and teachers who it said were arrested after the airstrikes.

Recorded violent attacks on schools jumped to about 190 in 2021 in Myanmar from 10 the previous year, according to the non-governmental organization Save the Children.

The use of schools as bases by both the military and armed groups has also increased across the country, the organization said in a report this month, disrupting the education process and putting children at risk.

RES-EMP

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