Overview
On 14 April 2026, via Facebook, Red Peacock reported that, at roughly 15:00 local time on 13 April 2026, a military airstrike hit the Mahasi Sasan Meditation Centre (မဟာစည်သာသနာ့ရိပ်သာ) and monastery in Seik Khun village (ဆိပ်ခွန်), Shwebo Township (ရွှေဘိုမြို့နယ်), Sagaing Region (စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်း). The incident reportedly resulted in the deaths of two people and injured eight others.
Myanmar Witness analysed and verified images showing damage to the monastery compound and civilian infrastructure. Local media outlets have connected the timing of the reported airstrike to the Thingyan, Myanmar’s major Buddhist New Year festival, including Myanmar Now and Mizzima, which have highlighted the incident during the religious holiday.
Key findings
- Myanmar Witness geolocated images to [22.557946, 95.583952], confirming damage to the monastery
- Damage patterns analysed suggest it was caused by a blast impact from an aerial incident, though at the time of writing, no aircraft footage or available material on aircraft channels exists.
- Some User-Generated Content (UGC) has been chronolocated to 16:00 – 17:30 local time, which supports the timing of the aftermath
- At the time of writing, satellite imagery lacks conclusive date verification, and thus, a date cannot be independently verified for this incident.
- Myanmar Witness has noted that Seik Khun has a history of conflict and has been a contested area for power, which could explain the potential targeting.
This report presents key analytical findings and geolocations related to activity in Seik Khun village on 13 April 2026, as well as contextualising it within broader patterns.