Myanmar military airstrikes on village: Junta confirms deadly attach, up to 100 people killed
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00:00 Well, for more now on the situation in Myanmar, I'm joined on the set by Cyril Payen, who's
00:03 our former Bangkok correspondent and who's done a lot of reporting in Myanmar.
00:07 Cyril, thanks for being on the set with us.
00:09 What's the latest you're hearing from your sources on the ground?
00:11 Well, some very bad news and with few images because we are talking about a remote village
00:16 in northern Myanmar, well, around 150 kilometers away up north from Mandalay, which is the
00:22 second largest city in this country, but also a stronghold of the resistance, of the rebellion,
00:29 whatever you call it.
00:30 But as you mentioned, Jenny, I've been personally working for 30 years in covering the civil
00:37 war in this country, and it's quite very disparate to have a succession of tragedies and this
00:43 country going, falling down, down, going from bad to worse.
00:46 So it looks like if it's confirmed, because again, it's quite difficult to get very hard
00:53 news from sources there, but it should be, it could be probably the worst attack by bombardment
00:59 from the junta since it took over the country two years ago.
01:04 We're talking about thousands of children which have been killed.
01:07 So now, which is also quite new, the spokesperson of the junta confirmed, as you said this morning,
01:12 that it was actually, yes, there were bombardments on this village, but claiming that it was
01:16 a PDF, the PDFs, the shadowy guerrillas, the People's Defense Force, which has been organizing
01:21 for the past one and a half year, is making a lot of damages to the army or affiliates.
01:27 The thing is, we are also celebrating the New Year in this country, and it's hard to
01:32 believe that this 40 or 50 or so children which have been killed, not talking and not
01:37 mentioning the terrible footage we have, are pictures from women, men, obviously civilians,
01:44 which have been totally killed and shot also by the Mi-35 military choppers, are members
01:52 of the guerrillas.
01:53 So it's the reality in my mind is quite tragic at this point.
01:57 Cyril, the international reaction to this attack has been very strong.
02:00 Some cynics might even say for once.
02:03 How do you see this reaction actually helping the situation?
02:06 As you said, for once, at least there was one time where people are trying to react.
02:11 But I mean, beyond this outcry, which is coming from America, from Europe, from the neighboring
02:19 countries, what is going to change for the reality of the people in this country?
02:24 You have over 20,000 people who are political prisoners in the country since the coup.
02:30 Journalists, activists, students, normal people, maybe 10,000 people killed, hundreds of thousands
02:35 people displaced.
02:36 And it looks like this country, this war is just too far away.
02:40 It's been made kind of a damage with regard of the help from the international community,
02:44 but it doesn't explain everything.
02:47 But diplomatically, the thing is the godfathers of Myanmar are China, which is also providing
02:52 a lot of help, militarily speaking, and Russia.
02:55 So nothing will move, I mean, beyond these kind of statements, even if they are this
03:01 time, at least quite strong.
03:03 Cyril, thank you for that.
03:05 France 24, this is Cyril Payen.