At least 14 civilians were killed and dozens more injured by a junta airstrike on a wedding reception in Sone Kone village in Magwe Region’s oil-rich Myaing Township on Tuesday morning.
“Many people were injured as the bomb hit the place where people were cooking for the wedding,” a member of the Myaing People’s Defense Team.
The junta aircraft dropped two 500-lb bombs that left the monastery hosting the event a smoldering ruin.
The regime’s propaganda newspaper has repeatedly warned of imminent attacks on resource extraction sites, claiming greedy businessmen are exploiting natural resources in conflict zones and funding “terrorist groups.”
By terrorist groups, the regime means ethnic armed organizations and People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) that now control gem, jade, rare earth, and gold mines as well as oil fields in parts of Shan and Kachin states and central Myanmar.
The regime has urged civilians working in mines in rebel-controlled areas to flee as it seeks to cut off revenues to groups fighting it.
Asked if he thinks this was the reason for Tuesday’s bombing, the Myaing PDT member said: “I don’t know why. We are still trying to find out more.”
Earlier reports said the bridegroom was a resistance fighter.
The civilian National Unity Government has advised people in the area to avoid gathering since the regime has repeatedly targeted the resistance stronghold of Myaing in aerial campaigns.
On Feb. 20, the regime used a Mi-35 helicopter to twice bomb a base of the Pakokku District PDF Battalion 15 in Myaing.
On Jan. 30, an airstrike on a university left one person dead and four others injured. Six civilians were killed when the regime dropped 500-lb bombs on Letyetma village in September last year.
