Clues undermine Myanmar junta’s claims on school air strikeーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
myamar’s military huta has extended a temporary ceasefire with resistance forces until the end of this month supposedly to help with recovery efforts from a massive earthquake that hit three months ago meanwhile the United Nations says air strikes launched by the military have continued even after the disaster a strike on a school in the region last month kills more than 20 children the HUNA denies responsibility claiming through state media that illegal anti-government media outlets have spread false news nhk partnered with the international investigative group Myamar Witness on a joint survey into what really happened some voices and images have been altered to protect identities [Applause] [Music] may 12th 2025 local independent media reports say an air strike has hit a school in the northwestern seag region the school is managed by the shadow national unity government or NU which was formed by lawmakers ousted in the military coup at least 22 students and two teachers were reportedly killed with more than 100 others injured the NUG moved swiftly announcing the temporary closure of all schools under its control just one day later the Honta took to staterun media to discredit the reports claiming it wasn’t behind the air strike nhk and Myammar witness jointly analyzed videos and photos from the scene to determine what really occurred and assessed the validity of the conflicting claims through open source analysis the school was located in a village in Depean Township an area widely regarded as a resistance stronghold one of the most notable features is this image showing a damaged building the brown roof matches satellite imagery of the school nhk obtained several photos from a teacher who was at the scene claiming they show fragments of weapons recovered after the air strike myamar witness identified them as parts of air launched unguided munitions noting the distinctive shape of a tail fin in the debris our analysis u confirms that it’s consistent with munitions that the Myanmar Air Force has used previously the fragments that we have seen seem to be consistent with the type of uh weapon that would be um would be dropped by an aircraft rather than a drone nhk cross-checked the physical evidence against testimony from eight eyewitnesses we interviewed online a second grade teacher recalled hearing the roar of a fighter jet overhead while she was in the middle of a math lesson fourth period starts at 9:15 when I heard the sound of the plane i ran to the office the bombs hit at 9:34 as I was heading back to the classroom it just kept continuing she drew us a plan of the school showing where the 292 students were taking lessons at the time she says after telling her class to hide under a platform in the next room she left for the office to consult the other teachers when she started to head back the bombs had already landed and four of the children were dead balloon yes these are the fragments i found some of the children with their hands and heads cut off this 18-year-old student is still in a state of shock i couldn’t help my friends of course I wanted to but I also had to get away to save myself a week later NHK obtained three videos reportedly filmed by village residents on the day of the attack the footage shows fighter jets overhead ed Myamar witness notes that while the image quality is poor and the aircraft type can’t be confirmed one video shows enough detail in the shape and sound of the aircraft to identify it as a fighter jet the digital evidence indicates the school was hit by a military air strike a direct contradiction of the Honta’s claim what we note um specifically is the damage that they do it really is um significant and um the use of of aircraft and the conduct of of air strikes in the country is is enormously um damaging to to civilian life meanwhile a new information war is unfolding on social media alongside the air strike this post shows a video of young people making bombs claiming the school was being used as a resistance stronghold [Music] a week after the attack the state-run newspaper ran 2 days of third party commentary with photos of the same scene as in the video each used arguments to support claims that resistance forces were making bombs at the school location analysis by Myamar witness suggests the video was likely filmed somewhere else not at the site reported to have been bombed later an NUG official from the township’s education committee shared a screenshot of a post he had seen before the incident had happened he insists the same video was reused with a different narrative [Music] i saw a post claiming the resistance forces were doing the same thing before in the area south of the Zagine region they’re still lying now [Music] after reviewing the video and photos it is highly unlikely that the location shown is the same school hit in the May 12th incident the Myamar team at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has also conducted its own investigation its leader expressed his views on the results of our analysis we don’t really comment on uh the work of other organizations uh but in in this particular case I would say that uh we also did an investigation uh or currently have an ongoing investigation into this incident and uh we have uh reached at least some very similar conclusions to those uh in the Myanmar witness report um that you assisted with what I do know though are that schools are protected under international humanitarian law and that civilians are not supposed to be targeted in times of war more than a month since the incident the eyewitness says 14 students are still being treated at a mobile hospital all of them have lost hands or legs and are waiting for surgery one 15-year-old boy who has been discharged told us he still has shrapnel in his legs that can’t be removed it hurts more because my education and dreams have been taken away i can’t do anything now and I don’t know what to do i hope the military violence will end soon i want to be free the UN Human Rights Offic’s Myamar team says member states can no longer claim ignorance of the situation its head urges them to block exports that can help the military and shift the focus toward humanitarian aid
An investigation by NHK and Myanmar Witness reveals strong evidence that a school there was targeted by a military air strike that killed over 20 children. The findings contradict the junta’s claims and raise concerns about escalating attacks on civilians. #myanmar #asia #earthquake #disaster #asean #children #analysis #education #myanmar
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