3 students killed in military airstrike on Christian Bible school: 'Outraged and appalled'

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Friday, November 06, 2026

Three students were killed and six others injured after Myanmar’s military launched an air and drone attack on a Bible school in Karen State, according to a Christian advocacy group.

The Tuesday assault involved regime forces dropping bombs from jet fighters, followed by a bombardment using armed drones. An armed drone detonated directly over a Christian Bible school in Day Bu Noh village in Hpapun District.

The area is inhabited predominantly by Christian Karen communities. Two female students died immediately, while a third died the following day as she was being transported to Thailand for emergency medical treatment, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported Thursday.

“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,” CSW CEO Scot Bower said in a statement.

“The systematic targeting of religious institutions and civilian youth in predominantly Christian ethnic areas is a severe violation of international humanitarian law,” Bower continued. “The Myanmar military continues to act with complete impunity, [weaponizing] 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.”

Myanmar has been in turmoil since February 2021, when the military seized power from the elected government and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, leading to widespread pro-democracy protests and armed resistance, sparking civil war across much of the country. Ethnic armed groups seeking autonomy, including Christian-majority Karen, Kachin and Chin forces, have also fought the military. Rights groups and a United Nations investigator say the military has attacked civilians, including with airstrikes, to terrorize them into submission. 

The U.N. estimates that there are about 1.6 million people who have fled from Myanmar as refugees and asylum seekers.

The military launched the coordinated attack at about 3 p.m. Tuesday, despite no active fighting in the area at the time, CSW reports. Regime forces dropped more than 10 bombs from jet fighters before conducting an hour-long bombardment using armed drones.

Two female students were killed instantly, and seven others were initially reported injured. On Wednesday, local officials helped transport two critically injured students across the Salween River into Thailand for emergency medical treatment.

One of the students died while being transported to Sop Moei Hospital, bringing the death toll to three. The remaining six injured students continued receiving emergency care, CSW reported.

Since May 2026, junta forces have carried out aerial bombardments, artillery attacks and village burnings in the area. On Oct. 25, a military jet dropped four bombs on Mae Nu Hta village along the Salween River, killing a child and injuring at least two other people.

The latest attack follows other incidents in which the Myanmar military destroyed Christian churches.

On Oct. 9, two military jets conducted bombing runs over Mindat, a town in southern Chin State. Four bombs fell at two locations. One struck a Presbyterian church compound and destroyed the church building.

No deaths or injuries were reported at the time.

On Oct. 12, at about 3:30 p.m., troops from the military’s 33rd and 88th Light Infantry Divisions burned down the Htingnan Kachin Baptist Church and the houses around it. The church stood in Shwe Pyi Tha Ward, part of a neighborhood known as Three Mile in Bhamo Township, also spelled Banmaw, in Kachin State.

“The destruction of the Presbyterian church in Mindat and the Htingnan Kachin Baptist Church in Banmaw are clear violations of international humanitarian law and freedom of religion or belief,” CSW Founder President Mervyn Thomas said in a statement at the time. “Targeting and destroying places of worship that serve as spiritual and community lifelines for vulnerable populations is a grave crime.”

The military’s attacks have also hit religious sites of other faiths.

The monitoring organization Myanmar Witness reported in April that it had documented more than 300 airstrikes on religious sites, including churches, mosques and Buddhist monasteries, between January 2024 and December 2025.

In August, a military airstrike struck a Buddhist temple in Myaung Township in the Sagaing Region, killing 14 civilians who had gathered there for a meditation retreat.