Over 500 people killed in massacres since Myanmar coup: think tank

By Admin 14 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
14 October 2023, Sittwe
 
There have been at least 22 massacres since the military coup in February 2021, with at least 502 civilians killed in those massacres, according to the latest report from the Institute for Strategy and Policy Myanmar (ISP-Myanmar).
 
The institute defined massacres as involving at least 10 fatalities, with its tally covering the period between February 1, 2021, and October 9, 2023.
 
“Those incidents took place in Kachin, Kayah, northern Shan, and Rakhine [Arakn] states, and Sagaing, Bago and Magwe regions, and at least 502 civilians died,” said the ISP-Myanmar report released on Friday.
 
A staggering 13 massacres took place in Sagaing, three in Kachin, one each in Karenni (Kayah), Arakan, Shan, Chin, Magwe and Bago, according to ISP-Myanmar.
 
The deadliest of them took place in Pazi Gyi village in Sagaing Region’s Kanbalu Township, where about 165 civilians including 38 children were killed in a junta air raid on April 13 of this year.
 
Those who have committed war crimes must be punished, said political analyst U Than Soe Naing. “The attack on a camp for displaced people in Laiza [on October 9] was quite a serious crime. It is further evidence of the junta’s war crimes against civilians,” he said.
 
A junta artillery strike left 28 people including 10 children dead and more than 60 others wounded at Mung Lai Hkyet displacement camp in Kachin State’s Laiza on October 9.
 
The recorded massacres included air raids, artillery strikes, arson attacks, and detention and slaughtering, said ISP-Myanmar.
 
DMG was unable to obtain comment from junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun regarding the allegations contained in the ISP-Myanmar report.
 
Thirteen civilians were killed and 24 others were injured by junta artillery strikes in Jeitchaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, on November 16 of last year.
 
“The regime did not give compensation to family members of the victims. There is no justice,” said a family member of a victim in Jeitchaung Village. “Seven of the victims were the breadwinners of their families, who are now suffering from financial hardships.”
 
The regime denied the fatal artillery strike on Jeitchaung, putting the blame on the Arakan Army.
 
At least 4,146 people have been killed across the country since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.