Myanmar horror: Villagers flee air strike as ‘106 protesters shot dead by security forces’

Myanmar army fighter jets launched air strikes today on a village near the Thai border in territory, the armed group said. The Karen National Union (KNU), the ethnic armed group that controls the southeastern region, said fighter jets attacked Day Pu Noe village at around 8pm., forcing villagers to flee. Reports said two people had been killed and two wounded, with more casualties feared, according to a spokesperson for the Karen Peace Support Network, a civil society group working in the area.

The attack has provoked an international outcry, with the British ambassador among the diplomatic missions raising concerns that children are among the dead.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the regime had hit a "new low" on Saturday as soldiers and police sought to suppress protests in the deadliest day since last month's military coup.

Mr Raab said: "Today's killing of unarmed civilians, including children, marks a new low.

"We will work with our international partners to end this senseless violence, hold those responsible to account, and secure a path back to democracy."

A military spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment on the killings by security forces or the insurgent attack on its post.

"They are killing us like birds or chickens, even in our homes," said Thu Ya Zaw in the central town of Myingyan, where at least two protesters were killed.

"We will keep protesting regardless... We must fight until the junta falls."

The deaths on Saturday would take the number of civilians reported killed since the coup to well over 400.

READ MORE: 
EU hits breaking point as third Covid wave runs rampant across bloc [INSIGHT]
Putin hits 'bullseye' with new deadly hypersonic missiles [REVEALED]
Authorities draw new plan as ships head for Cape of Good Hope [VIDEO]

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade to mark Armed Forces Day that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy.

State television had said on Friday that protesters risked being shot "in the head and back". Despite this, demonstrators came out on the streets of Yangon, Mandalay and other towns, as they have done almost daily since the Feb. 1 coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Myanmar Now news portal said 91 people were killed across the country by security forces.

At least 29 people, including a 13-year-old girl, were killed in Mandalay, and at least 24 people were killed in Yangon, Myanmar Now said.

A boy as young as five was earlier reported among the dead in Mandalay but there were conflicting reports later that he may have survived. Another 13-year-old was among the dead in the central Sagaing region.

"Today is a day of shame for the armed forces," Dr. Sasa, a spokesman for CRPH, an anti-junta group set up by deposed lawmakers, told an online forum.

The reported air assault is the most significant attack for years in the region.

The KNU had signed a ceasefire agreement in 2015 but tensions surged after the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government on Feb.1.

The KNU says it has been sheltering hundreds of people who have fled central Myanmar amid mounting violence in recent weeks.

The junta's troops killed dozens of people on Saturday, including children, in one of the bloodiest days of protests since the coup, news reports and witnesses said.

MORE TO FOLLOW...