A Myanmar military airstrike on a monastery killed 14 people who had gathered for a meditation retreat marking Buddhist Lent, according to two rebel fighters who witnessed the aftermath.
The attack struck a monastery hall at around 9am on Friday 21st August in Myaung township in the central Sagaing region, killing 11 men and three women, according to Nway Oo Myaung, a pro-democracy rebel who helped clear the bodies.
“Since Buddhist Lent was being marked … older people had entered the meditation centre for three months,” Myaung said. “Those who were killed, their ages were between 50 and 70,” he added. “It wasn’t a mistaken target, they intentionally attacked a monastery.”
A second local opposition fighter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said five of the dead were from his village, while the other nine were from neighbouring villages.
“While we were trying to rescue people, the aircraft came to bomb a second time,” Myaung said, describing how the follow-up strike interrupted rescue efforts.
It was not immediately possible to contact the Myanmar military for comment.
Myanmar’s military sparked a civil war when it seized power in a 2021 coup, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and detaining the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. More than 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed across all sides over the past five years as the military battles an array of pro-democracy and ethnic minority rebel groups. Sagaing region has been a focal point of resistance since the coup, with local defence forces and pro-democracy groups active in many townships, including Myaung.
UN investigators from the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) published a report last week accusing the military of “indiscriminate and intentional aerial attacks against civilians”. Public buildings, most often monasteries and schools, are frequently cited as sites of reported airstrikes, and the IIMM said it had observed a significant increase in aerial attacks in the months before Myanmar’s recent elections.
Conflict monitoring group ACLED said in a report last month that the military has increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure and gatherings, including religious festivals and weddings, as part of a strategy it described as aimed at creating fear.
Myanmar’s government has rejected the allegations, calling the IIMM publication “one-sided allegations against Myanmar’s security forces based on unverifiable and inaccurate information”. Authorities maintain that their security operations target armed groups and deny deliberately targeting civilians.
The attack comes as Myanmar attempts to present a return to political normality following years of military rule. The military organised elections around the beginning of 2026, but democracy groups dismissed the vote as a sham, noting that Aung San Suu Kyi and her party were excluded, while opponents of military rule faced imprisonment.
Min Aung Hlaing, the military leader who led the 2021 coup, became civilian president in April and stepped down as armed forces chief, handing the position to a close aide. He has since stepped up diplomatic efforts to end Myanmar’s international isolation and secure greater recognition for his government. Critics both inside Myanmar and abroad describe these moves as lacking genuine democratic legitimacy, given the exclusion of major political figures and the continuation of armed conflict.
Verification of events in conflict zones remains difficult because of restricted access and communication difficulties. The accounts of the two rebel fighters represent the primary testimony available from the immediate aftermath of the strike, while independent confirmation continues to be sought by international monitors and media organisations.
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