At least 40 people have died after a paraglider dropped bombs over a full moon festival in Myanmar.
Hundreds of people had gathered in the streets for both the Thadingyut festival and an anti-junta demonstration when a paraglider flew over and started to drop bombs at about 7pm local time on Monday.
One of the committee members who organised the event, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, said 40 people had died and around 80 more were injured.
The committee managed to alert people as the paraglider approached, meaning about a third of the crowd managed to flee, but victims including children were ‘completely torn apart’ by the bombs.
She told AFP: ‘As of this morning, we were still collecting body parts from the ground — pieces of flesh, limbs, parts of bodies that were blown apart.’
The attack took place in the Chaung U township in the Sagaing region, a key battleground in the ongoing civil war raging in Myanmar.
Thousands of people have died and millions displaced since the army seized power in 2021, with armed resistance groups and ethnic militias fighting back.
The army had lost control of more than half of the country, but is now making significant gains again.
Large parts of the Sagaing region are under the control of volunteer militias established to fight the military junta, the BBC reports.
These groups, known as the People’s Defence Force (PDF), also run the region’s local administration, and they tried to end the protest quickly after receiving information about a potential attack.
The junta has been using paragliders in its operations more often, after international sanctions in place over the last couple of years made it difficult for Myanmar’s military to get hold of equipment like planes and helicopters.
But Russia and China have been providing advanced drones and technology, giving the junta an advantage on the battlefield.
The candlelit vigil was organised as a peaceful protest against the junta’s military conscription, the upcoming national election, and to call for the release of political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi.
It’s feared the upcoming elections won’t be free and fair, which could allow the junta to maintain its hold on power.
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