13 killed including 7 children in Myanmar army attack
13 people, including 7 children, were killed in an attack by the country's military on a school and village in north-central Myanmar. School administrators and a local aid worker disclosed the information on Monday (September 19). And on Tuesday (September 20) in a report, ABC News reported this news.
Military government attacks on pro-democracy rebels and their allies often result in civilian casualties in Myanmar. However, the number of children killed in last Friday's (September 16) helicopter attack in Tabain town in Sagaing region is believed to be higher than at any time since the military took power.
Friday's attack took place in the village of Let Yat Kon in Tabain, also known as Dapain, about 100 kilometers (70 miles) northwest of Mandalay, the country's second-largest city.
School administrator Mar Mar said that two of the four Mi-35 helicopters hovering over the village started attacking the school with machine guns. Meanwhile, he tried to hide the students safely in a classroom on the ground floor.
He told the news agency Associated Press (AP) on mobile phone on Monday, "The children students did not do anything wrong. I never thought that they too would be brutally killed by machine gun fire.'
They (army members) fired at the school compound for an hour without stopping for a minute. There was nothing we could do but pray.
When the helicopter attacks stopped, about 80 soldiers entered the village and started firing, targeting the Buddhist monastery building next to the school. 7 students were killed. Besides, 6 more residents of the village lost their lives in the attack.
Not only that, more than 20 people including 9 injured children and three teachers were taken away by the soldiers. Two of them are accused of being members of the anti-government People's Defense Force.
