Myanmar military air strike on a tea shop kills 18 watching a football match on TV

BANGKOK (AP) – An air strike last week by Myanmar’s military on a tea shop in the country’s upper-central region of Sagaing killed at least 18 civilians and wounded 20 others, a local villager and Myanmar’s independent online media said Monday.

The attack is the latest in a series of frequent and deadly aerial strikes targeting armed pro-democracy forces as the country approaches elections scheduled for later this month. The strikes often cause civilian casualties.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021, triggering widespread popular opposition. After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.

The new attack occurred on Dec. 5, shortly after 8 p.m. in Mayakan village in Tabayin township, a resident said. The village, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, is better known by its old name of Depayin.

The villager, who rushed to the site of the attack to help the victims, told The Associated Press that a five-year-old child and two schoolteachers were among those killed in the attack in the tea shop where dozens of people gathered to watch the Myanmar vs Philippines football tournament on television.

Tea shops in Myanmar are essentially the equivalent of the West’s neighborhood coffee shops, where people linger over cups of sweet tea, gather to talk, eat, and stay connected to community life.

The villager, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is afraid of being arrested by the military, said two bombs dropped by a jet fighter exploded shortly after air raid sirens sounded, killing many people in the tea shop who had no time to seek shelter. More than 20 houses near the shop were damaged.

He also said that there had been no recent fighting in the area, though Sagaing is a stronghold of the resistance against military rule. The military government has stepped up air strikes against the armed pro-democracy People’s Defense Force and ethnic militias to reclaim territory ahead of the scheduled Dec. 28 polls. The resistance forces have no defense against air attacks.

The military had not announced any attack in the area.

Some residents fled the village after the funeral for the victims was held on Saturday, while those who remained were digging bomb shelters, the villager said.

Independent online media, including the news service Myanmar Now, released pictures and videos said to show debris from the air strike.