Three Monks Killed as Junta Airstrike Hits Monastery in Kyaikhto Township

August 25, 2025

HURFOM: At around 10:20 AM on 24 August, junta fighter jets launched an airstrike on Chan Myae Monastery in Chan Myae village, Kyaikhto Township, Mon State. The strike directly hit the dining hall where monks were preparing for their morning meal.

According to local residents, eight monks were present inside the hall at the time of the attack. Two monks were killed instantly, and another monk, who had sustained severe injuries, died about 45 minutes later. Of the injured, at least another three are reported to be in critical condition. The monastery’s dining facility was completely destroyed.

A villager who arrived shortly after the bombing told HURFOM field reporters:

“The monastery is supposed to be a safe place. Instead, they bombed it during the meal. Two monks died immediately. We are still shaken and afraid—if even the monasteries are not safe, where can people go?”
This tragic incident is part of a wider pattern of indiscriminate junta violence in Kyaikhto Township, where airstrikes and artillery shelling have targeted civilian areas throughout 2025.

A local villager explained that junta forces appeared to attack the monastery under the suspicion that resistance fighters were hiding there. However, he stressed that no armed groups had ever taken refuge inside the monastery.

Earlier this month, HURFOM documented mass arrests in Theinzayat and Bilin townships, where displaced men were seized from shelters and forced into conscription. Civilians across Kyaikhto and Bilin are increasingly living in fear as religious sites, homes, and displacement shelters come under attack.
The targeting of a Buddhist monastery, where vulnerable monks sought refuge, underscores the Junta’s blatant disregard for civilian life and religious sanctity. Communities in Mon State continue to face displacement, loss of livelihoods, and grief as the military escalates attacks in its bid to assert control and prepare for its sham election.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News