Myanmar military strike kills 14 people at a Buddhist monastery, opposition group says

Myanmar's military launched an airstrike on a Buddhist monastery located in the central Sagaing region on Friday, resulting in the deaths of 14 individuals who were participating in a week-long meditation retreat, according to an opposition group and a local resident. The attack took place at 9 a.m. in Swel Le Oh village, situated within Myaung township, approximately 45 miles west of Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city.

Nway Oo, a spokesperson for the Civil Defence and Security Organization of Myaung Township, reported that 14 people lost their lives, including three women, while 20 others sustained injuries when a jet fighter dropped a bomb in the monastery's compound. A villager, who preferred to remain anonymous, corroborated the death toll and additional casualties, stating that a second bomb, dropped 15 minutes apart, damaged a nearby house where over 100 people were engaged in a Buddhist Lent retreat. The attacker's residence had to be evacuated following the burial of the deceased.