Myanmar Junta Drops Bombs on Civilians During Full Moon Festival, Killing 40

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Myanmar junta has attacked protesters amidst the Thadingyut full moon festival. As reported by NDTV, the junta's bombing killed 40 people, including children, according to a participant and a local committee member on Tuesday, October 7, 2025.

Civil war has plagued Myanmar since the military seized power in a coup in 2021, leading pro-democracy rebels to take up arms and ally with armed ethnic groups against the junta.

The military's attack occurred while hundreds of people gathered in the Chaung U township, central Myanmar, to attend the Thadingyut full moon festival on Monday night, October 6, 2025. At that time, the military dropped bombs on the crowd, according to a committee member organizing the event.

A woman, on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said that people were gathered for the festival and anti-junta demonstration around 7:00 p.m. local time when the bomb killed more than 40 people and injured around 80 others.

"The committee alerted people and one-third of the crowd managed to flee," she said. However, suddenly, a powered paraglider flew directly above the crowd and dropped two bombs into the middle of the gathering.

As another motor-powered paraglider flying above left the area, she said people rushed to help the injured. "As of this morning, we were still collecting body parts from the ground -- pieces of flesh, limbs, parts of bodies that were blown apart," she said.

A Chaung U resident who attended the event on Monday confirmed the estimated number of casualties. He said people tried to run when they realized the paraglider was flying above their heads.

"While I was saying to people 'please don't run', the paramotor dropped two bombs," he said. Two of his "comrades" were killed right in front of him. There were many other victims as well.

A local media reported 40 people killed in the attack. There has been no official statement from the military junta.

UN Condemns Junta's Attack

The United Nations strongly condemns the military junta's attack on the civilian population of Myanmar. "This tragic incident, if confirmed, would add to a disturbing pattern of indiscriminate attacks affecting civilians across the country," said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric to reporters in New York on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, as published on the UN News website.

He emphasized that the indiscriminate use of aerial munitions is unacceptable. All conflicting parties must comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

Sagaing is one of the areas most affected by the conflict that erupted after the February 2021 military coup. The coup resulted in the overthrow of the elected government and the arrest of key leaders, including President Win Myint and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.

The region also suffered severe damage from an earthquake earlier this year, exacerbating humanitarian needs.

According to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Sagaing recorded the highest number of air strikes and civilian deaths nationwide. Between March 28 and May 31, 2025, alone, over 108 air strikes were reported, resulting in at least 89 deaths.

OHCHR said the Myanmar military is increasingly relying on air power, including new powered paraglider tactics capable of carrying 120mm mortar rounds, to attack "civilian-inhabited and earthquake-affected areas," despite a ceasefire being reached between the military junta and the rebels from April to May.

Civilians Deliberately Targeted

A report released in September documented at least 6,764 civilian deaths and over 29,000 political arrests since the coup. Almost half of all verified civilian deaths between April 2024 and May 2025 were caused by air strikes, with Sagaing, Mandalay, and Shan among the hardest hit.

Civilians have intentionally been targeted by the military, including markets, schools, homes, places of worship, and camps for displaced people. "Atrocities such as extrajudicial killings, mutilation, and widespread destruction of property have been documented, alongside the use of airstrikes with no discernible military objective, raising serious concerns of war crimes," said OHCHR.

The human rights monitoring organization Amnesty International said in a statement that the nighttime attack should be a grim reminder that civilians in Myanmar need immediate protection. The attack was "intensifying an already brutal campaign against pockets of resistance," said the London-based organization.

"The international community may have forgotten about the conflict in Myanmar, but the Myanmar military is taking advantage of reduced scrutiny to carry out war crimes with impunity," said Joe Freeman, an Amnesty International researcher in Myanmar, quoted by NDTV.

He called on the Southeast Asian Nations bloc to increase pressure on the Myanmar junta as ASEAN officials prepare for a meeting later this month.

The junta has touted the elections starting on December 28 as a path to reconciliation. However, a UN expert has dismissed the vote as a "fraud" to disguise the continued military rule, and the rebels have vowed to block it.

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