At least 24 people were killed and 47 others injured when motor-powered paragliders dropped bombs on a festival and protest gathering in Chaung U township, central Myanmar, on Monday evening, according to the exiled National Unity Government (NUG).
The victims had assembled for the Thadingyut Festival, a Buddhist celebration that coincided with a candlelight vigil against the ruling military junta. Witnesses said two bombs were dropped within minutes, causing widespread devastation among the roughly 100 attendees.
“They arrived and dropped the bomb within just seven minutes,” a People’s Defence Force (PDF) official told BBC Burmese. “When the first bomb dropped, I fell to the ground. There were people killed beside me.”
Locals described the aftermath as horrific, with bodies difficult to identify due to the scale of destruction. One organiser told AFP that children were “completely torn apart”, and that recovery efforts continued into Tuesday.
A New Tactic in a Prolonged Civil War
The attack highlights a growing trend in Myanmar’s ongoing civil war, now in its fifth year since the 2021 military coup. With limited access to aircraft due to international sanctions, the junta has increasingly used motorised paragliders (paramotors) for airstrikes, according to reports from BBC Burmese and Amnesty International.
Amnesty’s Myanmar researcher, Joe Freeman, condemned the assault as “a gruesome wake-up call” demanding urgent international action. The rights group urged ASEAN—the Southeast Asian regional bloc—to increase pressure on the junta and overhaul what it called a “failed approach” to the Myanmar crisis.
Calls for Justice and Reform
The Chaung U gathering had been organised to protest military conscription, denounce upcoming elections, and demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Myanmar’s junta has scheduled national elections for December, the first since seizing power, but international observers and opposition leaders say the vote will be neither free nor fair, serving only to legitimise continued military rule.
According to UN estimates, more than 5,000 civilians have been killed since the coup, as Myanmar remains trapped in one of the world’s most protracted and deadly conflicts.
