At least 24 people have been killed and 47 others wounded after a motorised paraglider dropped two bombs on a crowd protesting Myanmar’s military government during a Buddhist festival, according to a spokesperson for the government-in-exile who spoke to BBC Burmese.
The attack occurred on Monday evening as about 100 people gathered in Chaung U township, central Myanmar, to mark the Thadingyut festival — a major national holiday. The strike turned a peaceful candlelight vigil into one of the deadliest assaults on civilians in recent months.
Since the military seized power in 2021, thousands have been killed and millions displaced as the junta battles armed resistance groups and ethnic militias. After losing control of more than half the country, the army has recently made significant gains through an intensified campaign of airstrikes and bombardments.
Chaung U township, located in the Sagaing region, has been one of the main battlegrounds in the conflict. Much of the area is under the control of volunteer militias formed after the coup — known as the People’s Defence Force (PDF) — which also administer local governance.
An official with the local PDF told BBC Burmese that they had received warnings of a possible airborne attack during Monday’s gathering. “It all happened in seven minutes,” he said, adding that he was injured in the leg by the blast while others nearby were killed.
Residents described horrific scenes in the aftermath. “Children were completely torn apart,” said a woman who helped organise the event. She told AFP that she attended funerals the following day and that volunteers were still “collecting body parts.”
Amnesty International condemned the use of motorised paragliders in attacks, calling it part of a “disturbing trend.” The rights group’s Myanmar researcher, Joe Freeman, said the incident “should serve as a gruesome wake-up call that civilians in Myanmar need urgent protection.” He urged ASEAN — the regional bloc meeting later this month — to “increase pressure on the junta and revise an approach that has failed the Myanmar people for almost five years.”
BBC Burmese reports that the junta has increasingly resorted to using paramotors amid shortages of aircraft and helicopters, a result of international sanctions that have restricted the regime’s access to military equipment. Analysts say, however, that drones and advanced weaponry supplied by China and Russia have given the military a renewed edge on the battlefield.
Monday’s candlelight vigil was intended as a peaceful protest against the junta’s compulsory conscription and the planned national elections. Participants also called for the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the ousted democratic leader imprisoned since the 2021 coup.
Myanmar is set to hold general elections in December — its first since the coup — but critics say the process will be neither free nor fair, allowing the junta to consolidate power further under the guise of civilian rule.
