Amnesty calls for war crimes probe over Myanmar military bombing of church

The January attack in Sagaing killed 17 villagers, including two children, as they attended a Sunday service.

Myanmar’s military should be investigated for war crimes over an air attack last month that killed 17 villagers, including two children, as they attended a Sunday church service, Amnesty International has said.

Amnesty said photo and video analysis, as well as interviews with witnesses, indicated the Myanmar air force had dropped bombs on three locations near the St Peter Baptist Church in Kanan village on the morning of January 7.

The village is in the Sagaing region, not far from Myanmar’s border with India.

At least 20 people were injured.

The damage is “consistent with air strikes”, the rights group said in a statement on Thursday. “The combined photo and video evidence indicates at least three impact locations, with craters consistent with aircraft bombs of approximately 250kg each.”