At least 50 people have been killed in central Myanmar in an air strike carried out by the military on an event attended by opponents to its rule, several media reports quoted members of a local resistance movement as saying.

BBC Burmese, Radio Free Asia and the Irrawaddy news portal reported that between 50 and 100 people including civilians had perished in the attack, citing residents in the Sagaing region.

News agency Reuters could not immediately verify the reports with a spokesperson for the ruling military not responding to communication seeking a comment on the matter.

It may be noted that Myanmar has been in turmoil since a coup in 2021 which has been followed by attacks by ethnic minority armies and resistance groups that have challenged the rule of the military. In response, the military has carried out air strikes and used heavy weapons even in civilian areas.

A member of the local People’s Defence Force (PDF), an anti-junta militia was quoted by Reuters as saying that fighter jets had fired on a ceremony held to open their local office. The PDF member on the condition of anonymity said, “So far, the exact number of casualties is still unknown. We cannot retrieve all the bodies yet.”

 At least 1.2 million people have been displaced by the post-coup fighting, as per records maintained by the United Nations. Today’s incident could be one of the most deadliest among a string of air strikes since a jet attacked a concert last October that had killed 50 civilians, local singers and members of an armed ethnic minority group in the Kachin state.

Meanwhile, condemning the attack, Myanmar’s pro-democracy government-in-exile, the National Unity Government called it “yet another example of indiscriminate use of extreme force against civilians”.

Earlier, at least eight civilians including children were killed in an air strike last month on a village in the northwestern region of Myanmar, according to a human rights group, ethnic minority rebels and the media.

On the other hand, the military has always denied international allegations that it has committed atrocities against civilians claiming that it was fighting “terroritsts” determined to destabilize the country.

In a bid to choke off the revenue and access to arms from key suppliers like Russia, western countries have imposed sanctions on the junta and its vast business network.