100 killed in air strike by Myanmar junta

The ruling junta of Myanmar has confirmed that it carried out an air strike on Tuesday on a village in which 100 people, including children and reporters were killed.

The people had gathered for the opening of a local office of the country's opposition movement outside the Pazigyi village in Sagaing region's Kanbalu township.

The Associated Press while citing a witness said that a fighter jet dropped bombs directly onto the crowd of around 150 people at around 8 am on Tuesday. Among those dead were women and 20 to 30 children. Those killed also included leaders of locally formed anti-government armed groups and other opposition organisations.

The witness added that after the initial attack, a helicopter appeared about half an hour later and fired at the site.

The exact number of deaths however remains unclear as the military government has retreated reporting.

"We attacked that place There was a People's Defence Force office opening ceremony on Tuesday morning about 8 am at the Pazi Gyi village, "a spokesperson for the military government said.

The People's Defence Force is the armed wing of the National Unity Government. It calls itself as the country's legitimate government and is opposed to the Army.

The spokesperson also said that some of those killed were anti-coup fighters in uniform. There could have been some people in civilian clothes, the spokesperson also said. He blamed the mines planed by the People's Defence Force for some of the deaths.

The attack was strongly condemned by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He reiterated the call for the military to end the campaign of violence.

The opposition National Unity Government also called the attacks as 'heinous' and added that it was another example of their indiscriminate use of extreme force against innocent civilians, constituting a war crime.