Myanmar’s military carried out a paraglider bombing on a village in the country’s central Sagaing region on Monday night, killing at least 40 civilians, including children, and wounding more than 50 others, according to local resistance members, residents, and independent media outlets.

The unprecedented attack targeted Bon To village, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of Mandalay, as villagers gathered at a local primary school to celebrate the end of Buddhist Lent with an oil lamp lighting ceremony and a rally demanding the release of political prisoners — including ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Witnesses said a motorized paraglider operated by the military dropped two bombs on the crowd around 7:15 p.m., killing and maiming dozens of civilians and activists. Survivors described scenes of panic and carnage as the bombs exploded among families, children, and monks who had assembled for the religious event.

“The bombs came without warning. People were praying and lighting lamps — then there was fire, screams, and chaos everywhere,” said a resident who helped with rescue efforts. He said at least 24 bodies were immediately recovered, though the actual toll could be far higher as families collected victims independently.

A member of a local resistance group who attended the ceremony confirmed the attack and said more than 50 people were injured, including himself. “The army used a motorized paraglider to carry out the strike. It came from the direction of the military command in Monywa,” he told the Associated Press, speaking anonymously for security reasons.

He added that alerts had been sent through mobile and radio networks tracking the paraglider’s approach, but the aircraft reached the area faster than expected.

According to witnesses, the same paraglider returned around 11 p.m. and dropped two additional bombs, though these did not result in further casualties.

Human rights organizations condemned the attack as yet another atrocity in Myanmar’s ongoing civil war, which began after the military coup in February 2021 that toppled Suu Kyi’s elected government.

“The sickening reports emerging from central Myanmar following Monday’s nighttime attack should serve as a gruesome wake-up call that civilians in Myanmar need urgent protection,” said Amnesty International in a statement.

The junta has not acknowledged responsibility for the strike, maintaining silence as international outrage grows over its expanding use of low-cost motorized paragliders for bombing missions — a recent tactic believed to save operational costs as the military faces battlefield losses and sanctions-induced resource shortages.

The Sagaing region has been a stronghold of anti-junta resistance, with large swaths of territory beyond military control. The area has endured relentless airstrikes and scorched-earth operations, displacing tens of thousands of villagers.

According to figures compiled by independent monitoring groups, more than 7,300 people have been killed by Myanmar’s security forces since the coup, with thousands more imprisoned or tortured.

Monday’s massacre in Bon To village adds to the growing list of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by the junta, as international calls for a global arms embargo and accountability continue to mount. (ILKHA)