At least 17 killed in junta air strike on Myanmar school, reports say
The death toll from the Monday morning bombing on Ohe Htein Twin village in the region's Tabayin township, also known as Depayin, reported by independent media in Myanmar ranged from 17 to more than 20.
Others reported that the morning attack killed at least 22 students and two teachers and wounded dozens of others.
A member of the White Depeyin People's Defence Force resistance group fighting against military rule said a fighter jet dropped a bomb directly onto the school, where students from primary to high school levels were studying.
The area is about 115 kilometres northwest of Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city.
The resistance fighter, who rushed to the site of the attack to help the victims, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was afraid of being arrested by the military.
He said that 20 students and two teachers were killed in the attack on the school, which is operated by the country's pro-democracy movement, and some 50 others were wounded. Three nearby houses were also damaged.
Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the opposition's National Unity Government, said he received the same information on the number of casualties and warned the death toll could rise.
The organisation is the main opposition group coordinating resistance to military rule.
Sagaing region, near the border with India, has been a stronghold of armed resistance and the military in recent years has stepped up air strikes against the local pro-democracy People's Defence Forces.
The resistance has no effective defence against air attacks.
Neither the military government nor state-controlled media have released any information about the reported air strike.
The junta has increasingly used air strikes to counter a widespread armed resistance against its rule, which began in February 2021 when it seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
More than 6,600 civilians are estimated to have been killed by security forces since then, according to figures compiled by non-governmental organisations.
In September 2022, aerial attacks by the military's helicopters against a school and village in Let Yet Kone village in the same township killed at least 13 people, including seven children.
Air strikes in April 2023 killed as many as 160 people, including children, who were attending a ceremony held by opponents of army rule outside Pazigyi village in Sagaing region's Kanbalu township.
Air strikes in Myanmar garnered increased attention recently when numerous reports deemed credible by the United Nations and human rights groups said that they continued to be carried out in the wake of the devastating 28 March earthquake, after which the military and resistance groups declared ceasefires to facilitate relief efforts.
US President Donald Trump has indicated he is ready to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a present from the ruling family of Qatar during his upcoming trip to the Middle East this week.
As US officials say the jet could be converted into a potential presidential aircraft — the famed Air Force One, questions arose over what would constitute an immensely expensive gift donated from a foreign government to a serving official.
While the Qatari government said a final decision hasn't yet been reached, Trump defended the idea as a fiscally smart move in a post shared on his Truth Social platform Sunday.
'So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a gift, free of charge, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40-year-old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, top dollar, for the plane,' said Trump, adding 'anybody can do that.'
According to ABC News, the US president would use the aircraft as his plane until right before he leaves office in January 2029 — when ownership would be transferred to the foundation overseeing his yet-to-be-built presidential library.
Qatar's media attaché, Ali Al-Ansari, said that a decision had not yet been reached, while 'the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments" of Qatar's Ministry of Defence and its US counterpart.
According to ABC, officials from the Trump administration have prepared an analysis which demonstrates that accepting the plane would be legal.
However, the US Constitution's Emoluments Clause bars anyone in government office from accepting any present, emolument, office or title from any 'king, prince, or foreign state' without congressional consent.
The US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer poked fun at Trump's 'America first' political slogan, stating 'nothing says 'America First' like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar."
'It's not just bribery, it's premium foreign influence with extra legroom,' added Schumer.
Other lawmakers also expressed dismay online, noting that an aircraft being offered by a foreign government could present security risks if used by a US president.
The existing planes used as Air Force One are heavily modified with survivability capabilities for the president for a range of contingencies, including radiation shielding and antimissile technology.
They also include a variety of communications systems which allow the president to remain in contact with the military and issue orders from anywhere in the world.
Jordan Libowitz, communications director for the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said such a gift would be 'unprecedented".
'The totality of gifts given to a president over their term doesn't get close to this level,' Libowitz said.
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