Airstrike damages historic Buddhist meditation centre

A Myanmar military airstrike on the historic Mahasi Meditation Centre in Seikkhun Village, Sagaing Region, on 11 October left at least two civilians dead, over 25 injured, and extensive damage to sacred Buddhist infrastructure.

The attack took place at around midday, when a fighter jet originating from the Tada-U airbase dropped three bombs on the Mahasi Meditation Centre compound in Seikkhun. Two bombs detonated between the Dhamma (main sermon) hall and a sacred banyan tree in the centre of the monastery grounds, while a third failed to explode.

At the time of the attack, the historic monastery, the ancestral home of the late globally-revered Buddhist monk, Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, was housing monks, nuns, elderly individuals observing Uposatha (Buddhist Sabbath), and internally displaced civilians.

The bombing almost destroyed religious infrastructure across the monastery grounds entirely, with shrapnel damaging multiple residential halls. Reports indicate at least two civilians were killed, while more than 25 individuals, ranging in age from two to over 80, sustained injuries, including several in critical condition.

This incident is part of a broader, systemic assault on Buddhist religious practices across Sagaing Region during the Buddhist Vassa (Rain Retreat). Continuous aerial bombardment has forced monks and monastic communities to flee their monasteries, preventing them from fulfilling essential religious obligations and leading many communities to cancel annual post-Vassa Kathina robe-offering ceremonies.

The prominent pro-democracy Buddhist leader Venerable Min Thunya condemned the attack, stating: ‘Since the 2021 coup, the military regime has destroyed more than 300 Buddhist monasteries and religious compounds across Myanmar. Monks and peaceful civilians are being killed under relentless airstrikes in a deliberate agenda to instil fear. The Mahasi Meditation Centre is a historic sanctuary, there were no armed resistance forces or military targets inside, only peaceful retreatants, monks, and displaced families. Continuous air raids have forced monks to flee, disrupting sacred Kathina ceremonies and making it impossible to reside safely or rebuild destroyed monasteries. While the junta pours millions into air dominance and ignores the country’s humanitarian disasters, it continues to target sacred places and lie about its crimes.’

The attack follows a previous military airstrike on Seikkhun Village in April 2026, which struck the nearby Thaik Thet Monastery, killing two monks and injuring 19 other monks and elderly villagers.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘The indiscriminate bombing of the Mahasi Meditation Centre, a historic sanctuary of global spiritual importance, demonstrates the junta’s complete disregard for religious heritage and human life. Targeting peaceful Buddhist retreatants, monks, and displaced families in their place of worship is a grave violation of freedom of religion or belief and international humanitarian law. The international community must take urgent, decisive action to cut off the junta’s access to the aviation fuel that is driving these relentless aerial assaults.’