by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
BANGKOK (Worthy News) – A military airstrike on a Buddhist monastery in Myanmar, also known as Burma, killed at least 14 people and wounded 20 others who were taking part in a meditation retreat, opposition representatives and residents said Saturday.
The attack occurred Friday in Swel Le Oh village in Myaung Township in the central Sagaing Region, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) west of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city.
Nway Oo, a spokesperson for the Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung Township (CDSOM), said 14 people, including three women, were killed when a fighter jet bombed the monastery compound.
A resident cited by The Associated Press news agency said the aircraft dropped two bombs about 15 minutes apart, with the second damaging a house near the monastery where more than 100 people were attending a weeklong meditation retreat during Buddhist Lent.
CIVILIANS FLEE AFTER STRIKE
The resident, who lost his mother-in-law in the attack, said survivors fled to a nearby community after cremating the victims.
Broadcaster BBC’s Burmese-Language Service and Myanmar media outlets, including Myanmar Now, also reported deaths from the attack, with estimates ranging from 10 to 14. Photographs and videos posted online purported to show bodies and damage following the strike.
Myanmar’s military did not immediately comment on the latest allegations. It has previously maintained that its airstrikes target legitimate military objectives and describes armed resistance organizations as “terrorists.”
The strike is the latest in a series of deadly aerial attacks as the military battles pro-democracy resistance forces and ethnic armed organizations across large areas of the country, often resulting in civilian casualties.
WAR SINCE MILITARY COUP
Myanmar has been engulfed in conflict since the military seized power from the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
Initially peaceful demonstrations against the coup were suppressed with deadly force, prompting many opponents of military rule to take up arms and helping transform the political crisis into a nationwide civil war.
Sagaing has emerged as one of the strongholds of armed resistance, including groups belonging to the People’s Defense Forces, which have limited means to defend themselves against military aircraft.
The United Nations-established Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar recently reported what it described as a notable escalation in military aerial attacks in the months surrounding elections held in December and January, saying the strikes continued afterward.
MILITARY REJECTS ACCUSATIONS
Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry rejected the findings, saying limited airstrikes and what it called counterterrorism operations were directed solely against military targets and conducted under established rules of engagement.
Authorities said security forces exercised “maximum restraint” to avoid civilian casualties and accused insurgent and resistance organizations of responsibility for continuing violence.
However, rights and religious-freedom organizations have documented attacks affecting religious sites belonging to Myanmar’s Buddhist majority as well as the country’s Christian minority.
Christians are particularly concentrated in Chin, Kachin, Karenni and Karen states, while Christian communities also live in Sagaing and other parts of the mainly Buddhist nation.
CHRISTIAN CHURCHES TARGETED
The U.S.-based Burma Research Institute (BRI) estimated in a report released this year that 343 Christian churches and related buildings had been damaged or destroyed by the military between the February 2021 coup and the end of 2025.
The report also cited figures from Christian aid and advocacy group Open Doors indicating that 149 Christians were killed and 218 imprisoned in Myanmar between 2022 and 2025, while documenting repeated attacks on religious sites around Christian holy days, including Christmas, Palm Sunday and Easter.
Among the hardest-hit communities is the predominantly Christian town of Thantlang in Chin State, where BRI said 21 of 22 churches were destroyed and the entire population displaced amid fighting and military operations.
Religious-freedom monitors say the destruction of churches has accompanied killings and detention of Christian clergy and the displacement of Christian communities, particularly in areas where armed resistance to military rule is strong.
U.S. LEADERS EXPRESS CONCERN
The BRI report was launched with recorded statements from U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and James Lankford and U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Chair Vicky Hartzler, who expressed concern about the treatment of Christians and called for accountability and protection of religious freedom.
Grassley said those remaining in Burma faced the military’s “brutal crackdown and repression,” adding: “Most outrageous of all is the persecution of Christians. This absolutely must stop!”
Lankford expressed solidarity with Christians facing military repression, while Hartzler said USCIRF monitoring showed that attacks on houses of worship and religious communities continued to increase during 2025.
BRI President and CEO Zo Tum Hmung said the organization believes atrocities committed against Christians amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes and urged the United States to take further action. The characterization represents the organization’s assessment rather than a judicial finding.
The latest bombing of a Buddhist monastery underscores that religious sites and civilians from different faith communities remain vulnerable as Myanmar’s civil war continues with no immediate prospect of a nationwide settlement.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
