UN warns Myanmar children continue facing deadly airstrikes year after school attack

Children in Myanmar continue to face deadly military airstrikes one year after a school bombing in Sagaing Region killed more than 20 students, a UN investigative body said Tuesday.

The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar said it is investigating the May 2025 attack on a school in Oe Htein Kwin village, along with a series of more recent strikes targeting locations where children were present.

Earlier this month, at least five children aged between five months and 10 years were killed in an airstrike on a village playground in Chin State, the mechanism said in a statement.

Other incidents under investigation include attacks on villages in Mandalay, Bago Region and Rakhine State; a church in Tanintharyi Region; two schools in Rakhine State; and a monastery sheltering displaced people in Sagaing Region.

“The Mechanism is focusing on air strikes that appear to directly target civilians in locations where children are likely to be present, which may be war crimes or crimes against humanity,” said Nicholas Koumjian, head of the mechanism.

According to available data cited by the body, children were killed or injured in at least 640 airstrikes between the February 2021 military takeover and 2025.

"Attacks on children are particularly heinous," Koumjian said. “Children in Myanmar should be able to sleep, study and play without fear."