Nearly 700 civilians killed in junta air attacks since coup

By Admin 25 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
25 October 2023, Sittwe
 
A total of 687 civilians have been killed nationwide and 458 others were wounded by junta air attacks since its February 2021 coup, according to an October 23 report from Nyan Lin Thit, an independent research group monitoring Myanmar’s political situation.
 
More than two years and seven months after the coup, the regime has carried out more than 900 air raids, which left 86 buildings damaged. Fifty-four schools and 26 hospitals were targeted, said the report.
 
The regime conducted 272 aerial attacks in the four months from May to August of this year, with an average of two air raids per day. Karenni (Kayah) State was hit hardest, with 71 airstrikes, followed by Sagaing Region with 69 airstrikes.
 
The regime carried out air raids on 104 of the 123 days that covered the May to August period, said the report.
 
The junta has been heavily reliant on air forces as its ground troops have been severely depleted by casualties, armed opposition forces say.
 
“As they have become too weak to carry out a four-cuts strategy, they are increasingly using air and artillery strikes. Any attack targeting civilians is a war crime against humanity,” said U Banyar, secretary 2 of the Karenni State Interim Administration Council.
 
The most fatal air attack took place on April 11 of this year, when 165 civilians including 38 children were killed in Pazi Gyi Village in Sagaing Region’s Kanbalu Township.
 
Political analyst U Than Soe Naing said China and Russia have been attempting to protect Myanmar’s military regime on the international stage.
 
“The National Unity Government and ethnic armed organisations have urged the international community to take action against the junta’s air raids. But nothing has happened yet. The United Nations can also do nothing, and it will still be difficult to punish the regime as China and Russia are protecting the regime at the UN Security Council,” he said.
 
The perpetrators must be punished when the revolution succeeds, he added.
 
The regime has deployed fighter jets, attack helicopters, drones and cargo planes to carry out its air raids, provide air support for its ground troops during attacks and defence, undertake reconnaissance, and airlift reinforcements, food supplies and weapons, according to the report by Nyan Lin Thit.
 
Junta airstrikes and their human toll have steadily increased since 2021, said the report.
 
DMG was unable to reach junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun for comment.