Ethnic Armed Organizations that signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) have condemned Myanmar military council’s airstrikes on Pazigyi village in Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region, which killed scores of civilians.
The Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) of NCA signatories issued a statement on 21 April opposing any type of attack that could harm civilians, including the Sagaing incident.
The PPST said Myanmar’s politics are already complicated by conflicts, and that it opposes the military’s action because the use of force against crises runs counter to the peace process.
“We issued the statement condemning the military’s action because the use of force against crises caused by political unrest that harm civilians is against PPST policy,” said Col. Saw Kyaw Nyunt, spokesman for PSST.
A total of 186 people were killed and several others injured when the military council’s air force attacked the opening ceremony of the People’s Security Forces (PSF) office in Pazigyi village at around 8 am on 11 April.
Among those killed by the airstrikes were six children under the age of five, 19 children between the ages of 5 and 14, 10 children who could not be assigned to any age group, 97 adults over the age of 18, and 31 adults who could not be assigned to any age group, the National Unity Government (NUG) said in its press conference on 16 April.
In addition, 16 injured people received serious treatment, including five children under 18, including an 8-year-old, and 11 adults over 18, the NUG statement said.
Military council’s spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said the airstrike on Pazigyi village targeted the NUG and the PDF and killed many people, as the attacks directly hit the PDF’s storage area of mines and related equipment.
However, NUG Defense Minister U Ye Mon said on 13 April that the Pazigyi office opening was not a secret military meeting but a public gathering.
“It is just a village. It is neither a military camp nor a military target. Yet the military council deliberately bombed the village, which does not accept military rule,” said U Ye Mon.
U Pe Than, a political analyst, said the PPST’s condemnation of the incident, in which many civilians were killed by airstrikes, was a positive gesture.
“The whole world has seen the war crimes committed by the military council. The whole country has seen them. These crimes are the biggest and most brutal in the history of military rule. Every humane organization should condemn these acts, regardless of its party. Therefore, the PPST’s condemnation reflects the will of the world and the people,” he said.
The PPST further said in the statement that it would also seek to find solutions to the ongoing political crisis through talks with EAOs that have not signed the NCA and other political forces.
The military council, which has suffered setbacks in ground offensives in the face of growing armed resistance, has become increasingly reliant on airstrikes.
According to a March report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the number of post-coup airstrikes increased from 125 between February 2021 and January 2022 to 301 in January 2023.
Sent by DMG.