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13 killed in attack on school in Myanmar

THIRTEEN people were killed after army helicopters attacked a school in the northern central Sagaing region of Myanmar on Friday.

Seven of those killed were children attending their school set in a monastery complex.

School administrator Mar Mar said: “They kept shooting into the compound from the air for an hour.

“They didn’t stop even for one minute. All we could do at that time was chant Buddhist mantras.”

The National Unity Government (NUG), made up of elected politicians who were thrown out of office by the military, accused the generals of “targeted attacks” on schools.

The NUG demanded the release of 20 students and teachers it said had been arrested after the attack.

In a statement acknowledging that some villagers had been killed in the attack, the military said it raided the compound because armed groups were hiding there and using it for the transport of weapons.

It said soldiers had conducted “a surprise inspection” and were attacked by fighters from the ethnic Kachin Independence Army and a People’s Defence Force (PDF) who had hidden inside.

Myanmar’s PDF forces were set up by the NUG in the wake of the mass protests triggered by the coup, to fight against military rule. The generals have dismissed them as “terrorists.”

Amid the continuing attacks, the UN security council is due to consider a resolution that would demand an end to all violence in Myanmar, call for an immediate end to the transfer of arms to Myanmar and threaten UN sanctions.

It would also call on the military to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and allow for a democratic transition.

The Association of South-east Asian Nations brokered a five point framework with army chief Min Aung Hlaing in April 2021 aimed at ending the violence.

The framework has been largely ignored by the military.

 

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