SAC Jets Massacre 133+ Civilians in Double Airstrike on Kanbalu Township, Sagaing — Jets Return at 5:30 PM to Strike Rescuers

Myanmar junta fighter jets conducted two consecutive airstrikes on Kanbalu Township in Sagaing Region on June 3, 2026 — Day 1,948 of the civil war — killing at least 133 civilians including women and children in one of the deadliest single-day attacks on Sagaing Region since the February 2021 coup. The first wave struck in the morning; junta aircraft then deliberately returned at approximately 5:30 PM to strike the same location a second time, targeting rescuers and survivors rushing to aid casualties from the first strike — a double-tap tactic designed to maximize total casualties. Eyewitnesses described devastating scenes: children dying at the scene, women screaming, and bodies heaped on the ground. First responders were unable to safely access the site after the second wave due to continued military aerial surveillance. Kanbalu Township in northern Sagaing Region was previously the site of the October 23, 2022 concert massacre (80+ killed), but the June 3, 2026 double strike represents an even larger single-day toll in the same area. Sagaing Region is the PDF resistance heartland and has been under near-continuous SAC aerial bombardment since mid-2021. The June 3 Kanbalu massacre occurred just three days after Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing concluded his five-day India state visit — during which he held a bilateral summit with PM Modi — underscoring the disconnect between the SAC's diplomatic normalization efforts and its simultaneous atrocity campaign.