An air strike against an administrative office opening ceremony in Pazigyi Village, Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region, has killed dozens of people, according to video clips that went viral online.

The information team of the State Administration Council (SAC) said the air raid targeted the opening of an NUG (National Unity Government) office.

Around 100 people including young children were killed in the strike, according to social media, but it could not be independently verified by the Eleven Media Group.

The SAC’s statement said the military received a tip-off from some locals about the opening of an NUG office near Pazigyi Village on April 11 with the exact location and time. The military launched air strikes with restraint by calculating the distance between the village and the site where the event was to be held in order to avoid civilian casualties. The strike killed PDF (People’s Defence Force) leader Thant Zin and members. A lot more deaths might have been caused by a huge explosion of the explosives displayed at the event that were to be used in terrorist acts, the statement pointed out.

Through state-run televisions, SAC spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun said: “When it comes to the incident that happened this morning (April 11), the so-called NUG/CRPH (Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) opened an office in Pazigyi Village. An office for the PDF in the so-called name of people’s defence force. We carried out attacks on them. We learnt that those PDF members in attendance died. They are the groups opposing the government and people. As I have earlier said, you will see images pop up online. Most of their members were in uniform. Some might have been in civilian clothes. The terrorists in the name of PDF usually said when those in civilian clothes died, they were civilians. When they won a victory, they said they were PDF members. Such accusations will ever come. According to the information we got on the ground, such a situation did not come due to our attack only. There were mines around there planted by the PDF members. There were their stored gun powder, arms and ammunition. We got precise information that deaths were caused by an explosion of those explosives after being hit by our shells.”

According to those working on search and rescue among the debris, they found it difficult to do their work as the area was littered with mines.

The SAC statement also said that after setting up a base near Pazigyi Village, the PDFs killed 1,593 civilians, 92 administrators, 26 schoolteachers, 198 members of Myanmar Police Force, seven health staff and 54 other departmental staff, and 28 monks, and sabotaged 124 schools, five hospitals, 190 office building, 20 monasteries and 264 homes in Sagaing Region from February 1, 2021 to March 31, 2023.

On March 30, the PDFs killed nine civilians and burnt down 62 houses in Paukgon Village, Kanbalu Township.

In March this year, they murdered the administrator of Pazigyi Village, and had made the whole village PDF members. NUG/CRPH and PDFs persuaded some villages to open their offices. They set fire to the villages that did not support them, Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun said.

“When they wanted to hold an event, a training course as an example, they asked the PDF terrorists and one person from every house to attend it. They want to say that all the people including women and children are in support of them. We don’t even need to investigate. The images the emerged from them show that even young children are holding guns. Children were asked to wait and welcome the terrorists. In the attack, shells fell on the storages of explosives, causing an explosion. There were those who were surrounding them as they had been threatened. Therefore, I want to say that there might have been casualties,” the major general said.

Some images also emerged online showing PDF members were helping search and rescue the wounded after the military’s air strike on the morning of April 11. It is learnt that the search and rescue work could not be completed as more airplanes were flying over in the evening. The exact death toll is still unknown.