At least 27 killed in Myanmar airstrikes as Catholic bishops mark a national day of prayer and fasting for peace amid intensifying conflict.
Newsroom (26/03/2026 Gaudium Press ) Military airstrikes in Myanmar’s volatile northwest Sagaing region have killed at least 27 civilians and wounded many more, striking a Buddhist monastery that was sheltering over 100 internally displaced people, according to opposition sources and local media. The attack occurred as the nation’s Catholic leaders launched a special day of prayer and fasting for peace, underscoring the grim overlap of faith and violence in a country still reeling from three years of war.
The bombing in Katha on March 20 left 17 dead and at least 20 others injured, the opposition People’s Defense Force (PDF) reported. Among the casualties were families who had fled earlier fighting, taking refuge on monastery grounds. Local reports confirmed by the Democratic Voice of Burma said three subsequent strikes in the nearby town of Myaung killed four more people and leveled around 40 homes, trapping residents beneath debris.
Further attacks in Ayardaw and Kani killed 10 more civilians and destroyed another Buddhist monastery along with a school. The new series of bombardments followed a deadly wave of air assaults earlier in the year that left about 170 people dead during the junta’s disputed elections, including 116 prisoners of war reportedly killed in Arakan Army custody. The scale and pattern of these strikes have fueled fears that Myanmar’s generals are embracing a “no surrender tolerated” policy.
Bishops Call for Unity Amid Violence
Against this backdrop of escalating attacks, Myanmar’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference (CBCM) observed March 26 as a “special day of fervent prayer and fasting for Burma.” In a letter released two weeks earlier, CBCM President Cardinal Charles Maung Bo and Secretary General Bishop Noel Saw Naw Aye invited clergy and laypeople across the nation to unite in faith, calling the day an opportunity to “renew compassion, reconciliation, and national solidarity.”
“Our country suffers prolonged instability and violence since the 2021 military takeover,” the bishops wrote. “Many are displaced, impoverished, and in deep suffering. Peace must be built on the daily acts of love, compassion, and mutual understanding.”
They urged Myanmar’s faithful to accompany prayer with tangible acts of charity—through almsgiving, aid to the displaced, and commitment to dialogue. The bishops grounded their appeal in the tradition of Holy Week, citing Pope Leo XIV’s reminder that true peace is “born of compassion practiced in everyday life.”
A War with No End in Sight
Opposition sources accused the military of intensifying air operations using newly arrived Russian-made fighter jets, despite Western sanctions aimed at cutting the junta’s access to aviation fuel. Analysts say the regime’s continued air mobility suggests supply routes through Iran remain intact, frustrating earlier hopes that the global unrest following the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran might disrupt fuel shipments.
“We had hoped—even prayed—that the air force would stop bombing civilians,” a PDF source said. “The military cannot regain lost ground, so they bomb villages they cannot control.”
The persistent assaults come as resistance forces, including ethnic militias, continue to take territory in Myanmar’s north and west. Despite mounting casualties, neither the junta nor the opposition appears willing to enter peace talks.
Calls for Renewed International Action
In Geneva, outgoing UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar Tom Andrews echoed the bishops’ message, warning that international resolve to protect civilians was weakening. “Actions by the global community to undermine the junta’s ability to sustain its war machine have shown promise,” Andrews said, “but they must be strengthened and sustained to protect Myanmar’s people.”
Three years after the 2021 coup, Myanmar remains fractured by violence, its civilian population paying the heaviest price. As bombs fall on monasteries and churches call for mercy, Cardinal Bo’s plea for peace hangs heavily over a nation still struggling to find its moral center amid despair.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from UCA News
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