Junta attacks kill about 100 civilians monthly in Myanmar: rights group

By Admin 21 Dec 2024

DMG Newsroom
21 December 2024, Sittwe

Junta attacks have killed an average of about 100 civilians per month in Myanmar, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said in a report on December 19.

Junta attacks killed 633 civilians — 243 female and 390 male — from July 1 to December 19. Sagaing Region had the highest number of casualties, with 140. Of the total, 90 were children under the age of 18 and 79 were over the age of 60.

Ma Thandar Phyo, one such minor, was killed as the regime fired mortar shells into Shan Inn Village in Kalewa Township, Sagaing Region, on December 9, the AAPP report said.

“The regime is consistently carrying out these bombings throughout Myanmar. The international community has not yet taken effective action against the regime’s human rights violations,” said Ma San Htwe, a spokesperson for the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma.

Anti-regime groups have captured 86 towns across the country, mostly in ethnic areas including northern Shan and Arakan states, the report added.

Fighting continues to escalate in Arakan State, with civilian casualties from the regime’s airstrikes and artillery attacks continuing to rise.

Three elderly people were reportedly injured in a junta aerial bombardment of Arakan State’s Thandwe, which is held by the Arakkha Army (AA), on December 19.

Local residents live in fear as the regime’s aerial bombardments and shelling target civilian homes, buildings, and villages.

“Even though there are no regime forces in Arakan State, we are still very concerned about the threat to our lives due to artillery attacks and airstrikes by the Myanmar Navy. If the regime fires heavy weapons, we cannot sleep in fear,” said a local woman in Rathedaung Township.

Two teenage boys from Udaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, were injured in a junta artillery attack on December 18.

According to the AAPP, at least 6,067 civilians have died at the hands of the regime since the military coup in February 2021.