Junta attacks kill 102 civilians, injure 104 in Arakan State in May

By Admin 04 Jun 2024

DMG Newsroom
4 June 2024, Sittwe

At least 102 civilians were killed and 104 others were injured by junta gunshots, shellings, airstrikes and landmine blasts in Arakan State and Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State last month, according to a DMG tally.

Most of the civilian casualties were reported in Sittwe Township, with 53 people massacred in Byaine Phyu Village, according to a tally compiled by DMG from May 1 to 31.

“The sight of people being massacred in our village cannot get out of our eyes. I had never experienced such a tragedy before, so I was very scared. I don’t know why the regime is so angry with our village,” said a local woman in Byaine Phyu Village.

By township, the deceased are 53 from Sittwe, one each from Ann and Minbya, two each from Buthidaung and Kyaukphyu, eight each from Maungdaw and Paletwa, four from Kyauktaw, 17 from Thandwe and three each from Rathedaung and Ramree.

Among the injured are five from Ann, 13 from Buthidaung, 19 from Maungdaw, 22 from Kyauktaw, 10 from Minbya, four from Kyaukphyu, 11 from Paletwa, 17 from Thandwe and three from Rathedaung.

Sixteen civilians were killed and 69 others were injured by junta weapons in Arakan State in April, with May’s civilian casualty count marking a significant escalation in the conflict’s human toll. Fighting broke out between Myanmar’s military regime and the Arakkha Army (AA) in November, with last month marking six months of renewed hostilities, which have continued into June. 

Customary international humanitarian law requires any armed organisation to protect civilians and bars them from attacking, abducting or using civilians as human shields or targeting civilian dwellings.

Civilian casualties have risen as the regime has conducted targeted airstrikes and trained heavy artillery fire on civilian homes and populated areas.

“Although Kyauktaw Township has been cleared of junta troops, we are still afraid of regime airstrikes. We couldn’t sleep as a junta jet fighter flew over the town last night,” said a local man in Kyauktaw.

The regime conducted 409 aerial attacks in Arakan State in the four months from January 1 to April 30 of this year, according to a report from Nyan Lin Thit, an independent research group monitoring Myanmar’s political situation.