At approximately 0700 EST on June 8th, 2024, initial reports indicated that seven were killed and more were injured after a junta airstrike on a monastery in Tha Pyay Thar Village, Sagaing Region. By 0700 EST today, that death toll had risen to 13 killed and 40 injured. Of the dead, three have been reported as monks, one as a disabled parishioner, and one as the abbot of the monastery.
It is important to note that both Yangon Khit Thit and the Irrawaddy have admitted, though to varying degrees, that militants from the People’s Defense Team, People’s Administration, and People’s Security Teams (Pa La Pha) were operating in the area of the monastery. The Irrawaddy, which operates from Thailand, a country that cooperates with the Myanmar junta, claimed that villagers admitted the militants were holding a meeting in the monastery when it was struck.
This attack follows a junta bombardment on June 3rd, 2024, which killed at least 27 people at Mataw village in Sagaing’s Mingin Township.
