BANGKOK, Jan 7, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - At least 15 people, including children, have
been killed in an air strike on a village in northwestern Myanmar, local
media said Sunday.

The country has been engulfed by increasingly vicious fighting, with the
junta battling opponents in the north and the east.

The strike hit a village in Khampat Township, Tamu district, at around 10:15
am (0415 GMT).

Local media outlets put the death toll at 15 people, including children, with
20 wounded.

But two witnesses -- a man and a woman who asked to remain anonymous for
safety -- told AFP the toll was higher.

"19 people were killed, including eight children," said the man, who said he
saw a junta jet fighter overhead during the attack.

He said the first bombs targeted two churches in the village, and a second
attack came as people fled the buildings.

"Most of them were killed outside the church area as they were running to
escape," he said.

Women and children were among those killed in the attack, which was made more
deadly because of the crowds, he said.

In total the jet dropped six bombs, he said.

"They targeted the two churches, but bombs hit outside the two churches, and
hit some houses," he said.

Another device landed near the community's school, he added.

State media said late Sunday that reports of the attack were "fake news",
with MRTV saying there had been no aircraft operating in the area at the
time.

The village is under the control of a People's Defence Force (PDF) group, one
of many that have sprung up to fight the junta.

The military has designated the groups as "terrorists".

On Sunday, a planned graduation ceremony for new recruits had been relocated
to a nearby jungle.

"If they came to bomb our graduation area, we cannot blame them," the man
said, referencing the army.

"But they bombed the wrong place and bombed public churches and areas."

He and the woman told AFP that 30 people were wounded.

She warned that the casualty rate could rise, with some people seriously
hurt.

They were being treated at a clinic, she said, without giving further
details.