The Myanmar government military dropped bombs on a monastery in a central town, killing 14 civilians who had gathered for Buddhist Lent observance.
Foreign news agencies reported on Saturday, 22 Aug 2026, citing two local resistance fighters present at the scene, that the Myanmar military launched an airstrike on a monastery where civilians had gathered to practice their faith for the Buddhist Lent festival, resulting in 14 deaths.
Nway Oo Myaung, a pro-democracy resistance fighter who helped move the bodies, revealed the attack occurred around 09:00 on Friday, 21 Aug, local time, when military aircraft struck a monastery building in Myaung Township, Sagaing Region, central Myanmar.
“Because this was during Buddhist Lent, elderly people had come to observe the three-month retreat,” Nway Oo Myaung said, adding the deceased were 11 men and 3 women aged between 50 and 70. “This was not a stray attack but a deliberate bombing of the monastery.”
A second local resistance fighter, who wished to remain anonymous, told reporters on Saturday, “Five of the dead were from our village, and nine from other villages,” adding, “While we were trying to help the victims, the aircraft returned to bomb and shoot a second time.”
Myanmar has been in a state of civil war since the military seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in 2021. It is estimated that over 100,000 people from all sides have died in the past five years, as the military fights pro-democracy groups and various ethnic armed forces.
Last week, a United Nations investigation team from the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) published a report accusing the Myanmar military of “indiscriminately and deliberately airstriking civilians,” often targeting public buildings such as temples, monasteries, and schools.
However, the Myanmar government responded by dismissing the IIMM report as “one-sided allegations” based on unverifiable and inaccurate information.
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Source:cna