Bangkok - The funeral was held in Myanmar with nearly twenty students and teachers allegedly killed by military jet fighters in airstrikes at local schools.
Local resistance groups and independent media said on Tuesday that 20 students and 2 teachers died, also known as DePayin, in the attack on Ohe Htein Twin Village in Tabayin, Sagan region. As many as 100 people were injured, their reports said.
According to Shadow National Unified Government, the students of the deceased are from grades 2 to 11 with the youngest age of seven, the government is an umbrella organization for opponents of military rule.
A member of a local resistance group ruled with the Army told the Associated Press that another student injured in the bombing on Monday died Tuesday afternoon while under medical treatment.
The resistance fighter demanded that neither he nor his group were named for fear of being arrested by the military, saying the incident occurred when more than 100 students studied at a school in the village, which had about 500 houses. He denied that any resistance fighter planes were stationed in the attacked villages.
Sagaing has been a fortress of the rule of the armed army in Myanmar, and in recent years, the military has stepped up air strikes in the fight against resistance forces, including the armed people’s defense force. Resistance has no effective defense against air strikes, and many reports say it is a non-military target.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the Army took over in 2021, removing the elected government Aung San Suu Kyi, which has led to peaceful protests across the country to enduring armed resistance, denying army control in much of the country.
Reports on state-owned Global New Lights on Tuesday, Myanmar newspaper denied the military's air strikes, saying malicious media were deliberately spreading false information. The military's strict control over the media and the relative distantness of many such incidents have allowed them to independently confirm what happened.
Unidentified resistance fighters said the bodies of 18 victims were buried in cemeteries in two villages on Monday after a hastily arranged funeral hours after the explosion.
As the village clinic lacks adequate facilities, about 100 injured students and teachers are receiving treatment at regional hospitals. He added that at least two victims had to amputate.
Another member of the resistance group, a white Depeyin People's Defense Force, also said he wanted to be named, and told the Associated Press that the funeral ended Tuesday.
The jet flew off from the air base in Meiktila Township in central Mandalay on Monday morning and deliberately attacked the school with two cluster bombs while students were preparing to take the exam, a report from the National Unification Government said on Tuesday.
"All persons involved in command, execution or collusion involving intentional strikes against innocent children, students and educators should be subject to serious judicial impacts," the organization said in another statement. "The pathways without punishment shall not be allowed. Each responsible party will be pursued without breathing, explicitly identifying, responsible and complying with all punitive measures of the law."
The military increasingly uses air strikes to oppose a widespread armed struggle against its rule. According to data compiled by NGOs, it is estimated that more than 6,600 civilians have been killed by security forces since the Army's 2021 acquisition.
The air strikes in Myanmar have attracted attention recently as the United Nations and human rights groups believe that military and resistance groups have announced a ceasefire to facilitate rescue efforts after the devastating earthquake in Myanmar.
Indo-Pacterine West said in a statement: “At the time of the ceasefire, the Myanmar regime was shocked by reports of a school in a school in the earthquake-affected area.
“We repeat our call on all parties, especially the Myanmar military, to avoid air strikes, protect civilians and protect civilian infrastructure.”