Air strike on Buddhist monastery in Myanmar kills more than 20 people
A member of a resistance group said the overnight aerial attack on the monastery in Lin Ta Lu village, in Sagaing township, injured about 30 other people, of which 10 were in a critical condition.
The resistance member — who spoke on condition of anonymity — said 23 civilians were killed when a jet fighter dropped a bomb on a building in the village's monastery at about 1am.
They said more than 150 people from nearby villages had been taking shelter there to avoid recent fighting in the region.
Myanmar's independent Democratic Voice of Burma online media reported the death toll could be as high as 30, however the number could not be immediately confirmed.
Hlaing Bwa, the head of the pro-democracy group that administers parts of the central region, and a local resident both described the attack as an air strike by the State Administration Council, Myanmar's military junta.
The military did not immediately comment on the incident at the monastery, located about 35 kilometres north-west of Mandalay, the country's second largest city.
In the past, the army has said it only attacks legitimate targets of war and has accused the resistance forces of being terrorists.
The monastery housed about 200 people displaced by nearby fighting between the army and pro-democracy forces, Hlaing Bwa said.
The nature of the attack could not immediately be verified.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering a civil war.
After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms. Large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.
Days after a devastating magnitude-7.7 earthquake hit Sagaing on March 28, the junta announced a temporary ceasefire to provide humanitarian relief and help rebuild the region, after similar moves from armed anti-junta groups.
However, the military has continued to launch air strikes and artillery attacks on rebel-controlled areas, including those already destroyed by the quake, which killed almost 3,700 people.
The military has increasingly used air strikes to counter opposition forces, including the armed People's Defence Force in Sagaing region, a stronghold of armed resistance.
The resistance has no effective defence against air attacks.
The monastery attack comes weeks after hundreds of soldiers took part in an offensive with tanks and aircraft in an area about 5km from Lin Ta Lu to regain territories controlled by the resistance groups.
Thousands of people from nearby villages were displaced to the other towns and villages including Lin Ta Lu, the resistance fighter said.
Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the opposition's National Unity government, said the military had been trying to retake areas controlled by the resistance ahead of a planned general election later this year.
The poll is widely seen as an attempt to normalise the military's seizure of power through the ballot box and to deliver a result that ensures the generals retain control.
ABC/wires
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
10 hours ago
- ABC News
US drops sanctions on Myanmar junta's allies after military chief praises Donald Trump
The United States has lifted sanctions on several allies of Myanmar's ruling generals and their military-linked companies in a move that has prompted concern from politicians and rights groups. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power in a 2021 coup, deposing the civilian government and sparking a civil war that has killed thousands, displaced 3.5 million left and half the nation in poverty. The US Treasury announcement it would lift the sanctions came two weeks after Min Aung Hlaing sent a glowing letter of praise to US President Donald Trump, in response to his threat of tariffs, and commended him for shutting down US-funded media outlets covering the conflict. Rights groups say the decision risks undermining efforts to hold the country's military regime accountable. The US Treasury said it had dropped sanctions against KT Services & Logistics and its founder, Jonathan Myo Kyaw Thaung, who were sanctioned in 2022 for leasing Yangon's port from a military-owned firm. Others delisted include the Myanmar Chemical and Machinery Company and Suntac Technologies, which were previously sanctioned for producing arms, including tanks and mortars. A US Treasury spokesperson said the removals were conducted "in the ordinary course of business" and declined to explain why the individuals were removed from the list. A senior Trump administration official said the decision was unrelated to the general's letter. John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, described the decision as "extremely worrying" and said it suggested a weakening of the US sanctions regime. "The individuals involved are not marginal players; they have facilitated the junta's arms imports from countries such as China and Russia," analyst Sean Turnell told the ABC. "These are people who are closely tied to Myanmar's war economy. "Lifting sanctions on them sends the wrong message." The sanctions decision comes as Myanmar's military continues deadly air strikes against civilians. In May, a junta air strike on a school in Sagaing region killed 20 students and two teachers, according to local witnesses. The strike was carried out despite a purported humanitarian ceasefire called to help the nation recover from a devastating earthquake. In July, more than 20 civilians, including children, were reportedly killed in another air strike on a monastery sheltering displaced people. Amnesty International data has shown that the military has continued importing aviation fuel despite sanctions, enabling lethal air strikes across the country. This year, the junta's China and Russia-backed forces have clawed back ground on the northern front. State media also said its soldiers managed "to fully retake" the gold mining town of Thabeikkyin this week. Early this month, as part of a slate of import tariffs Mr Trump ordered, Myanmar was notified of a 40 per cent tariff to take effect on August 1. On July 11, Min Aung Hlaing responded by proposing a reduced rate of 10 per cent to 20 per cent. US Democratic Representative Ami Bera, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, said the decision to lift the sanctions "goes against our values of freedom and democracy". However, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said that sanctions delistings "were collected over the last year in accordance with standard Treasury course of business". The US maintains sanctions against Min Aung Hlaing and two state-owned banks, the Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB). Mr Turnell said it was important to keep individuals and banks involved in the military's procurement network on the sanctions list as it could complicate efforts to restrict the regime's access to foreign currency, which remains critical for weapons purchases. "Even Myanmar's allies, such as Russia and China, insist on payment in dollars or euros," Mr Turnell said. "That makes financial sanctions one of the most effective levers the US still holds." ABC/wires
SBS Australia
6 days ago
- SBS Australia
In a $29 billion race for influence, Australia trails China as our allies turn away
China is leading the development race in Southeast Asia as traditional donors like the United States and United Kingdom step away from the region, according to a new Lowy Institute report. The third edition of the Southeast Asia Aid Map shows China increased its regional development spend in 2023 for the first time in three years. "The lack of Western and European money going into Southeast Asia is a real problem," says Grace Stanhope, a research associate at the Lowy Institute. "We're projecting a 20 per cent drop in bilateral foreign aid to the region by 2026." Writing shortly after the 2025 federal election, the Lowy Institute's Grace Stanhope said the re-elected Albanese government would "have to move fast" if it wanted to increase Australia's influence in Southeast Asia. Source: Supplied China favours infrastructure, loans After reducing its annual Southeast Asian development spend by 68 per cent over five years, China boosted its financing in 2023. The regional superpower is still favouring market-rate loans for infrastructure projects, with rail ventures in Indonesia and Malaysia accounting for most of the annual increase. China is on track to overtake traditional partners in infrastructure spending, quadrupling its commitments from 2022 to 2023 through the revival of the Kyaukphyu Deep Sea Port Project in Myanmar. Development spending committed by both China and Australia's traditional partner nations to Southeast Asia has decreased since 2015. Source: SBS News It's the loans to the region's poorest countries — like Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia — that have some concerned. "These countries have far less options in terms of other development providers, and also far higher development needs," says Stanhope. "Increasingly, these countries have little room to manoeuvre in their negotiations." Stanhope warns reduced competition could reduce domestic scrutiny on China's funding. "I think we can expect to see less pressure for reform in terms of China's development finance offering if there are no viable alternatives." Most countries in the Indo-Pacific region have avoided high debt burdens taken on by other developing countries. Globally, a third of developing nations spend more on interest repayments than health each year. "We don't want countries in the Indo Pacific to be heavily indebted," says Melissa Conley Tyler, executive director at the Asia Pacific Development Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue. "That's a huge problem if countries can't provide the services that they need to their citizens because they're paying back debt." Further cuts expected The full impact of aid cuts is yet to be seen in the region. The Lowy Institute says that will result in the "centre of gravity" shifting in Southeast Asian development financing. Source: SBS News Australia's response Australia increased its aid to Southeast Asia in 2023, with Labor committed to raising its international assistance budget annually in line with inflation. Speaking after the ASEAN Leaders Summit earlier this month, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia had "sought to pivot our aid to the [Indo-Pacific] region" in response to recent cuts. "Some 75 cents in every dollar that Australia provides in development assistance is directed to our broader region;" said Wong. "We will continue to prioritise that." Source: SBS News Conley-Tyler says it's critical for Australia to maintain that focus. "If you have a pandemic or animal diseases, if you have climate migration, all of those things are going to matter greatly to Australia," she says. "We would, of course, prefer to live in a region that is secure and stable and prosperous. And so the money we put into things like our development assistance is helping on our national interest in that."
Daily Telegraph
17-07-2025
- Daily Telegraph
Anchor flees in horror scenes on live TV
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News. Israel's surprise strikes on the Syrian capital of Damascus were captured live on local television, following days of bloody internal conflict. Journalists and news broadcasters in Syria ducked for cover as air strikes reigned down on the ancient city, with authorities claiming 'several' civilians were killed. The strikes came after three days of fighting between Syrian soldiers, Bedouin tribes and Druze community members in the southern city of Sweida. The bombing was caught on live TV. War monitors report up to 350 people have been killed, and Syrian authorities had promised to investigate reports of 'summary executions' of Druze people. Syria's Druze community has links to Israel's Druze peoples, who live near the northern border. The Druze are an Arab religious group which adhere to the Druze faith. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the 'situation in southwestern Syria, is very serious'. 'We are working to save our Druze brothers and to eliminate the regime's gangs,' he said. Israel has presented itself as a defender of the group, although some analysts say that is a pretext for pursuing its own military goal of keeping Syrian government forces as far from their shared frontier as possible. Following the fall of Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, the Israeli military took control of the UN-monitored demilitarised zone in the Golan Heights and conducted hundreds of strikes on military targets in Syria. Prior to Wednesday's attack on Damscus, Israel had conducted air strikes in Sweida province earlier this week in what it said was defence of the Druze. Israel said it struck a 'military target' in the area of the presidential palace, while a Syrian interior ministry source reported strikes outside the capital in 'the vicinity of the Mazzeh (military) airport'. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called on Damascus to 'leave the Druze in Sweida alone', and threatened to unleash 'painful blows' until government forces pulled back. Syria's Foreign Ministry has called the Israeli action as 'treacherous aggression', saying they had resulted in the loss of 'several innocent civilians'. 'This flagrant assault, which forms part of a deliberate policy pursued by the Israeli entity to inflame tensions, spread chaos, and undermine security and stability in Syria, constitutes a blatant violation of the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law,' it added. Syria has announced its army had begun to pull back from Sweida following the strikes. Smoke billows following Israeli strikes near the Syrian army and defence ministry headquarters in Damascus on July 16, 2025. (Photo by Rami al SAYED / AFP) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was an agreement to restore calm in Syria by late Wednesday, as he blamed a 'misunderstanding' over the violence. 'We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight,' Mr Rubio wrote on X. 'This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do,' he wrote, without elaborating on the nature of the agreement. Mr Rubio, who had earlier said to expect 'real progress' within hours, blamed 'historic longtime rivalries' for the clashes in the majority-Druze city of Sweida, in Syria's south, which Israel has cited for its latest military intervention. 'It led to an unfortunate situation and a misunderstanding, it looks like, between the Israeli side and the Syrian side,' Mr Rubio told reporters in the White House of the situation which has included Israel bombing the Syrian army's headquarters in the capital Damascus. The aftermath of an Israeli air strike on Syria's defence ministry headquarters is seen on July 16, 2025 in Damascus, Syria. (Photo by Ali) 'We've been engaged with them all morning long and all night long — with both sides — and we think we're on our way towards a real de-escalation and then hopefully get back on track and helping Syria build the country and arriving at a situation in the Middle East that is far more stable,' Mr Rubio, who is also national security adviser, said as Donald Trump nodded. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, speaking shortly before Mr Rubio's announcement of a deal, said that the United States had asked Syrian government forces to pull out of the flashpoint area. US President Donald Trump listens to Secretary of State Marco Rubio speak during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 16, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) 'We are calling on the Syrian government to, in fact, withdraw their military in order to enable all sides to de-escalate and find a path forward,' she told reporters, without specifying the exact area. She declined comment on whether the United States wanted Israel to stop its strikes. Mr Rubio, asked by a reporter earlier in the day at the State Department what he thought of Israel's bombing, said, 'We're very concerned about it. We want it to stop'. The State Department afterwards issued fuller comments in which Mr Rubio did not directly reference Israel but said that the communal violence was a 'direct threat to efforts to help build a peaceful and stable Syria'. A woman carries a Druze and an Israeli flag, Many Druze faith followers live within Israel. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) 'We have been and remain in repeated and constant talks with the governments of Syria and Israel on this matter,' he said Mr Trump has staunchly backed Israel including in its military campaigns in Gaza and Iran. But he has been prioritising diplomacy with Syria's new leadership, seeing an opening after Sunni Islamist-led fighters toppled longtime ruler al-Assad in December. Originally published as Anchor flees in horror scenes on live TV
