Myanmar's military junta killed at least 53 people in an airstrike.
The north-western Sagaing region is home to militias that have emerged in opposition to the military, which took power in February 2021 after deposing the democratically-elected government.
- The airstrike targeted the village of Pa Zi Gyi, where the People's Defense Forces (PDF) militia was holding a ceremony to celebrate the opening of a new office.
- The PDF and other militias have been running local schools and health clinics while waging a guerilla campaign against the military junta.
- The junta frequently uses Russian- and Chinese-made aircraft to attack opposition forces with airstrikes, while militias rely on ambushes and improvised explosive devices to target troops.
- According to an independent monitoring group, there have been more than 600 military air strikes in Myanmar between February 2021 and January 2023.
- A military airstrike on a concert hosted by an ethnic insurgent group in Myanmar's Kachin state killed at least 50 people in October.
- Since the coup, thousands of people have been killed and 1.4 million have been displaced.
