Myanmar's ruling junta has confirmed that it carried out an airstrike on a village in which dozens of people were reportedly killed, drawing condemnation from the United Nations and Western powers.
The official death toll from the Tuesday morning strike on the remote Kanbalu township in the central Sagaing region remains unclear, with at least 100 fatalities reported by the BBC, The Irrawaddy, and Radio Free Asia.
A villager involved in rescue and recovery efforts at Pazi Gyi village - who asked not to be named to protect his safety - said body parts had been strewn across the site of the attack and estimated the death toll to be higher than 120.
Following a coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government in 2021, the military's crackdown on dissent and armed groups opposed to their rule has left more than 3,200 people dead, according to a local monitoring group.
UN rights chief Volker Turk said he was "horrified" by the deadly air strike, whose victims he said included schoolchildren performing dances, with the global body calling for those responsible to be brought to justice.
The junta confirmed late last night that the strike had taken place, but did not say how many people were killed.
"There was (a People's Defence Force) office opening ceremony... (yesterday) morning about 8am at Pazi Gyi village," said spokesman Zaw Min Tun, referring to the armed anti-junta groups that have sprung up across the country since its elected government was toppled in a 2021 military coup.
"We attacked that place," he added.
Some of the dead, he stated, were anti-coup fighters in uniform, though "there could be some people with civilian clothes".
Mr Tun went on to blame mines planted by the People's Defence Force for some of the deaths.
On Wednesday, the villager told AFP it was difficult to identify the dead.
"We cannot identify anymore who is who among the dead because they all became pieces," he said.
The man estimated about 80 bodies had been cremated on Wednesday, with rescuers halting efforts to recover roughly 40 more bodies "because we were afraid of more air strikes".
Village strafed
Tuesday's strike saw military aircraft strafe Pazi Gyi, where scores of locals had gathered to mark the opening of a local defence force office connected to junta opponents, a witness told AFP.
One fighter jet and a helicopter were involved in the attack, a security source told AFP.
The United Nations, while not confirming a toll, said several civilians were killed, with Mr Turk accusing Myanmar's military of once again disregarding "clear legal obligations... to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities".
The military's crackdown on dissent in the wake of the coup has left more than 3,100 people dead, according to a local monitoring group.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "strongly condemns the attack by the Myanmar Armed Forces today," according to a statement by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Mr Guterres "reiterates his call for the military to end the campaign of violence against the Myanmar population throughout the country," the spokesman added.
US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said the US was "deeply concerned" about the air strikes.
"These violent attacks further underscore the regime's disregard for human life and its responsibility for the dire political and humanitarian crisis in Burma following the February 2021 coup," Mr Patel said in a statement, using the country's former name.
"The United States calls on the Burma regime to cease the horrific violence, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and to respect the genuine and inclusive democratic aspirations of the people of Burma," the statement said.
'Great pain'
Sagaing region, near the country's second-largest city Mandalay, has put up some of the fiercest resistance to the military's rule, with intense fighting raging there for months.
A rescuer connected to a People's Defence Force group said that women and children were among the dead.
After recovering bodies and transporting victims for medical treatment, he estimated the death toll could be as high as 100.
Germany's Foreign Office in a tweet said it "strongly" condemned the strike, adding it expected "the regime to end the violence against its people immediately".
We strongly condemn the #Myanmar army's airstrike killing dozens of civilians, incl. many children. Our thoughts are with the victims & their families. We expect the regime to end the violence against its people immediately. @ASEAN's 5-point-consensus must be fully implemented.
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) April 11, 2023
Myanmar's National Unity Government, a shadow body dominated by former politicians from ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, called the strike a "heinous act".
"We... share the great pain felt by the families affected by this tragedy," it said in a statement.
The military, which accuses anti-coup fighters of being terrorists, has faced international condemnation for razing villages, mass killings and air strikes on civilians.
More than 30 people sheltering in a monastery were killed in Shan state in March.
Last year, a military air strike on a concert put on by the Kachin Independence Army in the northern Kachin state killed about 50 people and wounded more than 70, the rebels said.
Washington also denounced the "reprehensible" attack.
"We strongly condemn the regime's air strikes and urge the regime to cease the violence," US State Department Counsellor Derek Chollet tweeted.
Human Rights Watch Asia deputy director Phil Robertson said the strike was likely to have a chilling effect across Myanmar society.
"I think this will cause greater fear amongst the people," he told AFP. "I think in the future, communities will be reluctant to hold a... mass gathering of any sort, recognising that they could be bombed".
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Myanmar conflict tracker, the military has carried out 689 air and drone strike attacks since the coup.
Rights groups have called for the international community to further restrict Myanmar's access to aviation fuel in the wake of the attack.
But Bangkok-based security analyst Anthony Davis told AFP that demand was "divorced from reality".
"Russia is a firm ally of the junta and one of the world's largest oil exporters. Do we seriously believe Moscow will sit and watch the Myanmar Air Force being slowly grounded for a lack of aviation fuel?" he said.
