Myanmar accused of using fuel-air explosive in attack that killed 168 civilians

Human Rights Watch has accused Myanmar’s military of using an ‘enhanced-blast’ munition known as a fuel-air explosive in an air strike that killed more than 160 people at the opening of a local office of the country’s resistance movement in central Sagaing region in April (Kyunhla Activists Group/AP)

Myanmar troops used an “enhanced-blast” munition known as a fuel-air explosive in an air strike that killed more than 160 people, including many children, at a ceremony held last month by opponents of army rule, according to a report by a human rights monitoring group.

Human Rights Watch accused the military of dropping the weapon, also known as a thermobaric or vacuum bomb, on a crowd that had gathered for the opening of a local office of the country’s resistance movement outside Pazigyi village in Myanmar’s central Sagaing region on the morning of April 11.