Myanmar junta defends airstrikes that killed 60 people at concert

Debris scattered around destroyed wooden structures near Aung Bar Lay Village, Hpakant township, Kachin state, following the deadly airstrikes. - AP

YANGON (Bloomberg): Myanmar’s junta defended its airstrikes on a concert organised by ethnic minority group that killed at least 60 people, which opponents described as a possible war crime at a time of deepening conflict in the South-East Asian nation.

Sunday’s aerial attack in Kachin State killed concert performers along with civilians and militia officers and is seen as one of the deadliest since the junta overthrew the civilian government in a coup last year. The strikes appeared to target a concert at a base used for military training by the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organisation, which is aligned with forces loyal to detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.