Seven year old is youngest of at least 20 children aid group says have have been killed following February 1 coup.
A seven-year-old girl has been killed in her home after security forces opened fire in Myanmar’s second-largest city, Mandalay – the youngest victim so far in the military’s violent crackdown against opposition to last month’s coup.
Khin Myo Chit was reportedly sitting on her father’s lap when soldiers entered their home on Tuesday and tried to shoot him, her sister told the Myanmar Now news agency. Two men were also killed in the township, the report said.Staff at a Mandalay funeral service told the Reuters news agency that the seven-year-old girl had died of bullet wounds in Chan Mya Thazi township on Tuesday.In its March 23 update, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an advocacy group tracking deaths and detentions in post-coup Myanmar, put the death toll at at least 275, including Khin Myo Chit.
The AAPP said she died after being shot in the stomach. It was not possible to independently verify the information.
“We are horrified that children continue to be among the targets of these fatal attacks on peaceful protestors,” said Save the Children, which estimates at least 20 children have been killed in the violence.
“The safety of children must be protected under all circumstances and we once again call on security forces to end these deadly attacks against protesters immediately.”
On Monday, a teenage boy – also from Mandalay – was killed.
Tun Tun Aung was inside his home in a “squatters area” and was not involved in the protest when he was killed. The boy was buried on Tuesday.
