Ethnic Group: Myanmar Air Attack Kills 80 at Celebration

The Myanmar army's air strikes killed up to 80 people, including singers and musicians, who were attending an anniversary celebration of the main political organization of the Kachin ethnic minority, according to group members and a rescue worker on Monday.

The reported attack comes three days before Southeast Asian foreign ministers are to hold a special meeting in Indonesia to discuss the widening violence in Myanmar.

The death toll at Sunday night's Kachin Independence Organization celebration in northern Kachin state appears to be the largest in a single air attack since the military seized power in February last year from Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government.

Initial reports put the death toll at around 60, but figures later raised it to around 80.

It was impossible to independently confirm the details of the incident, although media sympathetic to Kachin released videos showing what was said to be the aftermath of the attack, with torn and flattened wooden structures.

In a statement issued on Monday evening, the military government's media office confirmed an attack on what it described as the headquarters of the 9th Brigade of the Kachin Independence Army, describing it as a "necessary operation" in response to the "terrorist" actions carried out by Kachin. Collection.

It described the reports of a high death toll as "rumours", and denied that the military had bombed a concert and that singers and audience members were among the dead.

The United Nations office in Myanmar stated it was "deeply concerned and saddened" by the reports of the air strikes.

Envoys representing Western embassies in Myanmar, including the US, issued a joint statement saying the attack underscores the military regime's "disregard of its obligations to protect civilians and respect the principles and rules of international humanitarian law."

Myanmar has suffered for decades from insurgencies by ethnic minorities seeking autonomy, but anti-government resistance has increased significantly across the country with the formation of a pro-democracy armed movement opposing a military coup last year.