Amnesty International says the military launched a paraglider attack on a nighttime civilian gathering.
Published On 8 Oct 2025
More than 20 people were killed in central Myanmar after the military launched motorised paraglider attacks during an antigovernment candlelight vigil, according to Amnesty International and media reports.
The attacks hit a village in Myanmar’s Sagaing Region twice on Monday night as community members gathered to mark a Buddhist festival and call for the release of political prisoners, among other demands, the reports said.
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“This would be the latest in a long line of attacks that stretch back almost five years to the start of the 2021 military coup,” said Amnesty International Myanmar Researcher Joe Freeman.
“As the military attempts to solidify power with a stage-managed election later this year, it is intensifying an already brutal campaign against pockets of resistance,” he said.
The attacks on Chaung-U Township came in two waves at 8pm (13: 30 GMT) and then again at 11pm (16: 30 GMT), killing between 20 and 32 people and injuring dozens more, according to The Irrawaddy, an independent news outlet based in Thailand.
The official death toll has not been confirmed, but the use of motorised paragliders is a known tactic from Myanmar’s military to drop munitions on civilian locations, according to the UN Human Rights Office.
Myanmar has been torn by civil war since 2021 between the military-led government, armed opposi