(MENAFN) A deadly aerial attack on a Buddhist festival and protest in central Myanmar has killed at least 24 people and injured 47 others, according to statements from the exiled National Unity Government.

The assault took place in Chaung U township on Monday evening during the Thadingyut festival, a major Buddhist holiday. Around 100 people had gathered for a candlelight vigil that also served as a demonstration against the ruling junta when a motorized paraglider reportedly dropped two bombs onto the crowd, a representative of the anti-junta People’s Defence Force said.

Myanmar has been engulfed in civil conflict since the military seized power in a 2021 coup. The United Nations estimates that over 5,000 civilians have been killed since the fighting began.

A local resistance official told reporters that organizers received a warning of a possible airborne strike and attempted to end the vigil early, but the attackers arrived too soon. “They arrived and dropped the bomb within just seven minutes,” he said. “When the first bomb dropped, I fell to the ground, but it hit the lower part of my knee. There were people killed beside me.”

Residents described horrific scenes after the explosions, saying the damage made it difficult to recognize many of the victims. “Children were completely torn apart,” said one woman who helped organize the event. She explained that she attended funerals the following day and that volunteers were still “collecting body parts from the ground.”

Amnesty International condemned the use of paramotors in military operations, calling it part of a “disturbing trend” in Myanmar’s conflict. The organization noted that the junta has increasingly relied on motorized paragliders because international sanctions have limited access to conventional aircraft and helicopters.
Joe Freeman, a Myanmar researcher for Amnesty International, said the strike “should serve as a gruesome wake-up call that civilians in Myanmar need urgent protection.” He also urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is expected to meet later this month, to “increase pressure on the junta and revise an approach that has failed the Myanmar people for almost five years.”

The vigil targeted in the attack had also called for an end to military conscription and demanded the release of detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

Myanmar is scheduled to hold a general election in December, the first since the 2021 coup. However, critics argue the vote will lack credibility and serve only to reinforce the junta’s grip on power.

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