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11 killed as Myanmar junta bombs Buddhist monasteries during new year festivities

April 17, 2025/in News

The airstrikes come despite a ceasefire and as people gather at religious sites during Thingyan celebrations. UPDATED April 15, 2025, at 2:50 p.m. ET Myanmar junta forces have unleashed a series of Burmese New Year airstrikes on Buddhist monasteries, killing 11 people during festive days when people traditionally visit religious sites to make merit. The […]

Commend bravery, condemn betrayal

April 17, 2025/in News

LETTER | The Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma) commends the extraordinary bravery of Malaysian rescue personnel, the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart), who undertook humanitarian missions in earthquake-stricken Sagaing Region, Myanmar. Operating in areas plagued by insecurity and militarised repression, their courage and commitment to saving lives stand as a […]

11 killed as Myanmar junta bombs Buddhist monasteries during new year festivities

April 17, 2025/in News

Commend bravery, condemn betrayal

April 17, 2025/in News

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11 killed as Myanmar junta bombs Buddhist monasteries during new year festivities

April 17, 2025/in News

The airstrikes come despite a ceasefire and as people gather at religious sites during Thingyan celebrations.

UPDATED April 15, 2025, at 2:50 p.m. ET

Myanmar junta forces have unleashed a series of Burmese New Year airstrikes on Buddhist monasteries, killing 11 people during festive days when people traditionally visit religious sites to make merit.

The latest and deadliest attack came Tuesday, when six civilians were killed and at least 25 others, including 10 monks, were wounded at Kanni village monastery in Kawkareik Township, Kayin (Karen) State, residents of the village told RFA Burmese.

The wounded are being treated at Mawlamyine General Hospital, said one resident, who like other sources in this article did not want to be named for safety reasons. Mawlamyine is the capital of neighboring Mon State.

The resident added that casualties would have been higher if the bombing had happened earlier in the day when more people were congregating at the monastery. He said there has been fighting in the vicinity since Monday evening between junta forces and the Karen National Liberation Army, which controls Kanni village.

According to reporting by RFA, airstrikes from Saturday – the eve of Thingyan, as the Burmese New Year is known – until Tuesday have killed a total of 11 people, and injured 51 others in Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Karen State and Rakhine State.

The attacks come despite a ceasefire declared by anti-junta and junta forces in the wake of a devastating March 28 earthquake in central Myanmar that killed more than 3,700 people.

During the pause, rebel forces have claimed gains in new territories, prompting retaliatory airstrikes from the military, often resulting in heavy civilian casualties. As well as being sites for religious homage, Buddhist monasteries often also serve as shelters for displaced people.

On Monday, in Sagaing region’s Kani township, a junta aerial attack around Monday 8 a.m hit a monastery where people were due to arrive for the holiday, one resident said.

“Of the novice monks in Tha Min Chan village, two died and two were critically injured,” the resident said.

“Because the bomb fell a bit early, it was only the monks in the monastery – those who came to make merit and perform duties for the monks had not arrived yet.”

Another woman was critically injured when bombs fell on a nearby village, the Kani resident added.

Separately, Indaw township, which was captured in part by the shadow National Unity Government’s militia, faced additional attacks around 11 a.m. on Monday, residents said. The attack injured two people.

On Sunday, junta attacks also hit monasteries in three townships in Sagaing region – Taze, Wuntho and Kawlin – killing one woman and injuring seven people, including a monk, according to the residents.

In a separate attack in Kyauktaw township, Rakhine state, three civilians were wounded: 10-year-old Chit Hnin Wai, 27-year-old Kyi Kyi Win and 34-year-old Oo Than May, the residents added.

In Mandalay region’s Natogyi township, airstrikes Monday targeting another monastery injured three more monks, including a child, residents told RFA.

In Thabeikkyin township, attacks on Sunday killed a man and a woman and injured eight others, said a member of the Pyinoolwin People’s Defense Force, one of the rebel groups.

“Around 10:21 p.m., they dropped four bombs on Chaung Gyi village that were around 200 or 300 pounds each,” he said.

RFA contacted Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Htun, the spokesman for the military council, about the airstrikes, but he did not answer his phone.

RFA News

Commend bravery, condemn betrayal

April 17, 2025/in News

Operating in areas plagued by insecurity and militarised repression, their courage and commitment to saving lives stand as a powerful act of regional solidarity and moral clarity.

Despite significant restrictions imposed by the military junta, their successful rescue efforts remind us of what true humanitarianism looks like.

However, while we applaud the selfless actions of these individuals, we are deeply alarmed and disappointed by the diplomatic trajectory taken by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is reportedly planning to meet with junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, under the pretext of humanitarian coordination.

Such an act risks legitimising a regime that continues to commit widespread atrocities – including indiscriminate aerial bombings, mass killings, and forced displacement – even during Myanmar’s traditional New Year.

Far from pursuing peace, the junta has intensified its war against the people. To meet with its chief architect, without consulting or including legitimate stakeholders from Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, would be nothing short of a betrayal.

This approach flagrantly disregards Asean’s own Five-Point Consensus, especially the first point, which calls for an immediate cessation of violence. Not only has this condition never been met, but the military junta has also openly defied it.

Yet, instead of accountability, we see gestures of recognition and dialogue that embolden the perpetrators and further isolate the democratic forces on the ground.

More troubling still is Asean’s apparent outsourcing of its regional responsibility – mandated by the United Nations and supported by the international community – to a private individual, former Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Such actions are irresponsible and unethical. Myanmar’s crisis is not a business opportunity, nor can peace be brokered through personal relationships or economic self-interest. Thaksin’s history of close ties with Myanmar’s military elite makes his involvement all the more problematic and unacceptable.

A broad coalition of Myanmar’s legitimate democratic actors and ethnic resistance organisations – including the National Unity Government (NUG), Karen National Union (KNU), Chin National Front (CNF), and others – has strongly opposed this direction.

These groups have urged Asean and the international community to:

Refrain from delivering humanitarian aid through the junta, which controls only 22% of the country and routinely weaponises assistance;
Ensure that aid is neutral, inclusive, and impartial and delivered through mechanisms involving the NUG and ethnic resistance organisations;
Reject the junta’s proposed elections as a sham exercise in military entrenchment;

Recognise that Myanmar’s sovereignty today is shared—the junta cannot speak for a population it brutalises.

Malaysia’s current direction undermines decades of work for peace and justice in Myanmar. It also sends the wrong message to the people of Myanmar, other Asean nations, and those around the world who look to Malaysia as a moral and principled actor in regional affairs.

We urge Anwar and Aseam leaders to reassess this flawed and dangerous approach. Do not reward atrocity with diplomatic recognition. Do not hand over the fate of an entire nation to backroom deals and private interests.

Stand with the people of Myanmar, who continue to resist tyranny at tremendous cost. Their courage deserves more than token sympathy – it demands principled action.

Malaysiakini

Other Human Rights Reports

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Geneva, 11 August 2026 – Investigations by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (Mechanism), as detailed in its Annual Report released today, show a pattern of deliberate aerial attacks on civilians, arbitrary detentions, torture and sexual violence committed by the Myanmar military. The Myanmar military escalated its aerial attacks and other crimes against civilians in the lead-up to […]

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ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

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