In response to battlefield defeats and the loss of many areas it previously controlled the junta has escalated its airstrikes on civilian areas.
According to research by the Blood Money Campaign - Action Network (BMC), markets, donation events, festivals, and religious ceremonies, which are often crowded with people, as well as healthcare facilities and even schools, are intentionally targeted by the junta's airstrikes.
From early 2021 to November 2024, the junta carried out approximately 4,020 airstrikes nationwide, resulting in around 2,250 deaths and about 3,400 injuries, according to a 10 January 2025 BMC report.
Breaking those numbers down, over that period Sagaing Region, where the resistance is strong, experienced 700 airstrikes, the most of any region. Northern Shan State where the junta has lost a lot of territory suffered 680 airstrikes the second most during that period and Rakhine State suffered 600 airstrikes, the third most during during that period.
According to BMC, since the February 2021 coup junta airstrikes have mainly targeted civilian areas rather than the military positions of ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) and resistance forces.
Ko Kaung Thu Win, a former junta captain who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) anti-coup movement by refusing to fight for the junta, suggested that the junta is targeting civilian areas so often because it has adopted a strategy of preemptively identifying and destroying civilian sites where it believes resistance forces might gather.
He said: “The junta believes that resistance forces are likely to gather in places like schools, hospitals, churches, and monasteries in villages, so it targets those areas. It may also choose targets based on intelligence. Taking preemptive actions before its bases are attacked, the junta uses planes and drones to bomb civilian areas and public buildings it suspects the resistance forces will use. This strategy has led the junta to target civilians more frequently than military positions.”
According to other CDM participants, the junta intentionally bombs villages far from combat zones to create fear among the population and discourage support for resistance forces. These attacks are also aimed at stopping locals from staying in areas the junta no longer controls.
An example of the junta’s indiscriminate airstrikes on civilians happened on 8 January 2025 when the junta launched an airstrike on Kyauknimaw Village in Ramree Township, Arakan (Rakhine) State.
According to a United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) 10 January report that attack killed around 40 civilians, injured 20 more and destroyed 500 houses. (Earlier the AA had reported that the airstrike had killed 26 people and injured a further 27, but stated that at that time many people were missing and more bodies still needed to be recovered.)
BMC pointed out that the junta is able to carry out airstrikes because international sanctions intended to block aviation fuel from reaching Myanmar focus primarily on domestic companies whilst largely exempting foreign companies supplying aviation fuel to Myanmar from sanctions.
BMC's external relations officer, who goes by the pseudonym Mirror told Than Lwin Times that the junta is also repurposing aviation fuel intended for civilian aircraft for military use and that international governments need to urgently assess the situation and take effective action to prevent aviation fuel from reaching the military.
He said: “The international community, including the United States, Britain, and the European Union (EU), must impose sanctions on foreign companies importing aviation fuel into Myanmar. Only such measures can halt the flow of aviation fuel to the junta through countries like China, Vietnam, and Singapore. It is also essential to identify, pressure, and take action against fuel companies and marine insurance providers involved in the fuel shipment process for the junta.”
The BMC has also urged companies from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states and other international companies to immediately cease all sales of aviation fuel, aircraft, spare parts, and aviation technology to the junta.
Ko Zeya, a former sergeant in a junta air defence battalion who joined the CDM suggested that preemptively attacking the junta's airbases and arms factories would be a good way to protect civilians.
He said: “If these military targets can be effectively neutralised, the people will be safe, no doubt. The critical question is whether the resistance forces currently have the capability to destroy the junta’s airbases effectively. If not, the focus should shift to plan B—targeting the junta’s weapons factories. With the junta’s territory shrinking, these factories are now closer to resistance strongholds. Disabling them would greatly reduce their ability to produce bombs for airstrikes. This can be done through various means, such as sabotaging the power lines that supply these factories, which would significantly hinder their ammunition production.”
There are 25 junta-operated weapons factories across the country, known in Burmese as Ka Pa Sa.
Of those, 15 are in Magway Region, seven are in Bago Region, two are in the junta stronghold of Naypyidaw and one is in Taikkyi Township in Yangon Region. They are in areas where ethnic armed organisations will find it hard to take attack them.
Since the February 2021 coup the junta has lost several aircraft, but in the same period it has acquired eight fighter jets, logistic aircraft, and helicopters to make up for the losses.
The BMC was set up in May 2021. It consists of a diverse group of activists from a wide variety of backgrounds. Its stated aims are to “demodulate the junta’s business pillars” which it does by targeting the junta's foreign revenues by putting pressure on companies that keep doing business with the junta.
