At least 24 people were killed and 47 others wounded on Monday when a motorised paraglider dropped two bombs on a crowd gathered for a Buddhist festival in Myanmar, a spokesperson for the government-in-exile.
The attack occurred in Chaung U township in central Myanmar as around 100 people assembled to mark a national holiday and protest against the military government.
Since the army seized power in 2021, triggering a civil war with armed resistance groups and ethnic militias, thousands have died and millions have been displaced.
The military, which had lost control of more than half the country, has recently made significant gains through a campaign of airstrikes and heavy bombardment.
Chaung U township lies in the Sagaing region, a key battleground in the conflict. Large parts of the region are under the control of volunteer militias established after the coup to resist the junta. These groups, known as the People’s Defence Force (PDF), also administer local governance.
A PDF official said that they had received prior intelligence of a potential airborne attack during Monday’s gathering.
The official said they tried to disperse the protest quickly, but the paramotor reached the site earlier than expected. “It all happened in seven minutes,” he said. He added that his leg was injured, while others nearby were killed.
Locals said that identifying the bodies in the aftermath was extremely difficult. “Children were completely torn apart,” a woman who helped organise the event said. She attended funerals on Tuesday and said authorities were still collecting body parts.
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In a statement on Tuesday, Amnesty International condemned the junta’s use of motorised paragliders, describing it as part of a “disturbing trend”. The junta has increasingly relied on paramotors due to a shortage of aircraft and helicopters.
International sanctions have limited Myanmar’s military rulers’ access to equipment, but advanced drones and military technology supplied by China and Russia have bolstered the junta’s capabilities, analysts say.
Joe Freeman, Amnesty International’s Myanmar researcher, said the attack “should serve as a gruesome wake-up call that civilians in Myanmar need urgent protection.”
He urged ASEAN, the Southeast Asian regional bloc, to “increase pressure on the junta and revise an approach that has failed the Myanmar people for almost five years.”
Monday’s candlelight vigil had been organised as a peaceful protest against the junta’s military conscription and the upcoming national election.
Protesters also called for the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratically elected leader who was deposed in the coup and imprisoned.
Myanmar is set to hold general elections in December, its first since the 2021 coup. Critics argue the vote will not be free or fair, allowing the military to maintain unchecked power.
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