Myanmar paraglider bombs Buddhist festival, kills 24

A paramotor bombing attack on a Buddhist festival and anti-junta protest in central Myanmar has killed at least 24 people and wounded 47 others, marking one of the deadliest aerial assaults in the country's ongoing civil conflict.

Witnesses described a motorized paraglider dropping two bombs on Monday, October 08, 2025, on approximately 100 people gathered in Chaung U township for the Thadingyut festival.

The event had simultaneously served as a candlelight vigil against military conscription and the upcoming election.

The exiled National Unity Government confirmed the casualty figures while local organizers reported receiving only seven minutes' warning before the airborne attack occurred.

"When the first bomb dropped, I fell to the ground, but it hit the lower part of my knee. There were people killed beside me," a People's Defence Force official revealed, later reported by the BBC.

The chaotic aftermath that left victims' bodies difficult to identify due to the explosions' destructive force.

Amnesty International researcher Joe Freeman condemned the assault as part of a "disturbing trend" of junta forces employing paramotor aircraft amid equipment shortages caused by international sanctions.

The human rights organization called for increased regional pressure on Myanmar's military leadership, noting the attack "should serve as a gruesome wake-up call that civilians in Myanmar need urgent protection."