Three students killed in military airstrike on Bible school in Karen State

Three students were killed and six others were injured in an air and drone attack by the Myanmar military on a Christian Bible school in Hpapun (Mutraw) District, Karen State, on 3 November.

The military launched a coordinated attack at approximately 3pm, despite the fact that no active combat was taking place. Regime forces dropped over ten bombs from jet fighters before executing an hour-long follow-up bombardment using armed drones. During the strike, an armed drone detonated directly over a Christian Bible school in Day Bu Noh village in Pkay Bu Village Tract, Lu Thaw Township, within Hpapun District, a region governed under Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 5.

Two female students were killed instantly, and seven others sustained injuries. On 4 November local officials assisted in transporting two critically injured students across the Salween River to Thailand for emergency medical treatment. One female student died en route to Sop Moei Hospital, bringing the confirmed death toll to three, while the remaining injured continue to receive emergency care.

This assault reflects a calculated and systematic pattern of military aggression in Karen State and across ethnic minority regions, where junta forces repeatedly target places of worship, religious schools and civilian infrastructure. In predominantly Christian Karen communities, military air and drone operations have increasingly targeted religious institutions, compounding mass displacement and severe terror among local populations.

The strike is also part of a broader military campaign in Hpapun District, where junta forces have conducted sustained aerial bombardment, artillery shelling and village arson since May 2026. On 25 October a military jet dropped four bombs on Mae Nu Hta village along the Salween River, killing a child and injuring at least two others.

CSW’s CEO Scot Bower said: ‘CSW is outraged and appalled by the junta’s deliberate attack on a Christian Bible school in Hpapun District, which claimed the lives of three young women and injured six others. The systematic targeting of religious institutions and civilian youth in predominantly Christian ethnic areas is a severe violation of international humanitarian law. The Myanmar military continues to act with complete impunity, weaponising air power against religious communities. We urge the international community to take swift, coordinated action to enforce an aviation fuel embargo and hold the regime to account.’

Featured Image Credit: North Now