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.
Updated with six killed in air strike in Kayin state.
Translated by Kiana Duncan and Kyaw Kyaw Aung. Edited by Taejun Kang and Mat Pennington.