At least 18 killed by military bombing at Myanmar Buddhist candlelight festival, human rights organizaton says
LONDON -- The military junta in Myanmar dropped at least one bomb from a paraglider, killing at least 18 people and injuring another 45, some of them seriously, at a vigil protesting military rule, a human rights watchdog and the exiled former government said.
People in the Sagaing Region’s Chaung-U Township in central Myanmar were gathered late Monday as part of a candlelight vigil during the Thadingyut full moon ceremony -- a major religious holiday.
"The death toll may rise, as some people's bodies were so badly damaged by the bomb blast that they are difficult to recognize. Survivors are now being treated in local hospitals," Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher Joe Freeman told ABC News.
The vigil was against the military junta, which has ruled over the Southeast Asian country since a military coup in 2021. Organizers were calling for the "release of arbitrarily detained prisoners, to oppose military conscription and to condemn a junta-organized election set for December," according to a statement released by Amnesty on Tuesday
"Among the dead and injured are children, students and people in their fifties. Activists involved in organizing the event were also said to be among the casualties," Freeman said.
The alleged attack was detailed in a statement released by Amnesty. The first attack happened at about 8 p.m., and the next at about 11 p.m. through motorized paragliders. The region is reported to have active resistance groups against the junta.
"There were no clashes or fighting in the village where this took place," Amnesty said. "This was an attack on civilians that should be investigated as a war crime, one among many occurring in Myanmar on a routine basis."
The military Junta in Myanmar has not been reported to have issued a statement since the bombing.
In a 2021 coup, the Burmese military ousted the democratically elected government. Since the coup, numerous resistance groups have led armed rebellion against the junta, according to the United Nations and independent rights organizations.
The junta "continues to kill civilians on a daily basis, using methods such as motorized paragliders," Amnesty's Freeman said.
"Terrorist military groups are making pressure to conduct illegal elections and on the other side are accelerating violence," said a statement post on social media by the Ministry of Human Rights of the National Unity Government, the country’s government-in-exile.
The planned elections in December are believed to be an effort by the military to legitimize the junta rule in Myanmar, Amnesty said.
The elections "would only further entrench the systemic human rights abuses taking place across the country," Freeman said to ABC News.
A United Nations Development Programme’s report published in April 2024 said that almost 76% of people in Myanmar are either living below the poverty line or very close to that.
The report states that "poverty rates have almost doubled from 24.8 percent in 2017 to 49.7 percent in 2023, while foreign direct investments have plummeted."
Myanmar experienced in March 2025 a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake, which killed over 3,600 people, according to UNICEF.
