Amnesty International interviewed four witnesses to the attacks, one person who visited Kanan after the attack and saw the bodies of those killed, and another person with knowledge of military operations in the area.

Air strikes by the Myanmar military killed 17 civilians – including nine children – as they gathered to attend church last month, Amnesty International said in a new investigation.

The strikes, at approximately 10.30 AM on Sunday 07 January, struck close to Saint Peter Baptist Church in Kanan village in Sagaing region, near the country’s western border with India. More than 20 people were injured.

Witnesses told Amnesty International that two children were killed by the first set of explosions while playing football in front of a nearby school. Many of the other victims were trying to run to safety when the second air strike hit. The attack damaged the church and school, as well as six civilian homes.

“The Myanmar military’s deadly attacks on civilians show no signs of stopping,” said Matt Wells, Director of Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Programme.

“The world cannot continue to look the other way while the Myanmar military relentlessly attacks civilians and civilian targets, including churches, schools and hospitals. Countries and companies around the world must stop the flow of jet fuel to the military, to protect civilians from further catastrophe.

“These attacks must be investigated as war crimes, and the UN Security Council should refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. The perpetrators of these crimes under international law must be brought to justice,” said Matt Wells, arguing that the Myanmar military’s deadly attacks on civilians show no signs of stopping.

Amnesty International interviewed four witnesses to the attacks, one person who visited Kanan after the attack and saw the bodies of those killed, and another person with knowledge of military operations in the area. The organization also analysed 99 photos and videos of the strikes and their aftermath, including images of those killed and injured.

Civilians repeatedly attacked

All of the structural damage caused to the school, church and nearby homes is consistent with air strikes, Amnesty says. The combined photo and video evidence indicates at least three impact locations, with craters consistent with aircraft bombs of approximately 250kg each, the organisation says. Satellite imagery taken after the strike also confirms significant damage to the school, adjacent structures and nearby homes, all consistent with an air strike.

The Myanmar military has denied responsibility for the attack, claiming no planes were flying in the area that morning. However, Amnesty International reviewed a video taken during the strike which shows the distinctive swept-wing silhouette of an A-5 fighter jet flying over the village. In Myanmar, only the military flies A-5 jets, which were imported from China.

Sources interviewed by Amnesty International said they had been told that members of a local People’s Defense Force (PDF) – one of many local armed groups formed since the coup to oppose the military’s rule – had planned a ceremony at the village school later that day. However, based on consistent witness accounts, fighters do not appear to have been present at the time of the strikes, which killed and injured civilians only.

Even if the military believed there may have been lawful targets present, it dropped several large bombs on a residential area at a time on Sunday when civilians were gathering for church, and struck again as civilians fled in panic. As such, these attacks were indiscriminate at a minimum, and should be investigated as war crimes, said Amnesty.

According to Amnesty International, the Myanmar military has repeatedly attacked civilians and civilian objects – often destroying or damaging schools, religious buildings and other key infrastructure – in the three years since carrying out a coup.

Jet flying overhead

Kanan – a village of an estimated 7,000 people – is located just north of the town of Khampat in Tamu township. Most of its residents are ethnic Chin, and practice Christianity.

Witnesses told Amnesty International of the devastation caused by the air strikes on 07 January 2024. A 56-year-old community worker said he saw a jet flying overhead as he prepared to leave his home for the nearby church. Moments later, the first strike hit approximately 200 meters from where he was standing.

He hid in his family’s rice storage shed with his wife and two children, just before another strike hit. Around 15 minutes later, he went to assist the injured and collect the bodies of the dead, which he described as “distressing”. Amnesty International reviewed photographs of the aftermath of the strike, which showed that one of the victim’s bodies had been dismembered, and that others had suffered catastrophic head injuries, also as described by witnesses. A 68-year-old man, who was inside the church when the first bomb struck, said: “We only knew about it when the bomb fell. We didn’t hear the plane. We were singing inside the church when it happened. The church’s ceiling collapsed and windows were broken, so people inside the church fled outside.”