Airstrikes by the Military Council have increased in the post- coup armed resistance period in response to the nation-wide surge of armed resistance against the coup- regime, according to a survey conducted from January 2021 to January 2023 by the Myanmar Peace Monitor MPM program of Burma News International (BNI).
From the time of the coup -February 1 st 2021 - January 25, 2023, the Military Council bombarded civilian communities, urban areas where the People’s Defense Forces (PDF/LDF) operated, and areas controlled by Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (ERO) for 258 days, according to the BNI-MPM statement.
The report also stated that in the Military Council’s airstrikes, the most targeted attacks were on schools, communities where civilians live, and IDP camps. These attacks lasted for 98 days. The second most targeted attacks were on the fighting fronts where the PDF/LDF moved and fought in urban areas.
BNI-MPM has also analyzed that the airstrikes conducted by the Military Council for 258 days only recorded the number of days of attacks per township, and according to the number of attacks, 3 to 5 attacks were carried out per day, so the number of attacks could be higher.
Along with the acceleration of the armed resistance of the revolutionary forces, the National Unity Government (NUG) is also able to provide more weapons to the revolutionary forces. The Military Council which is often ineffective in their ground offensive, has increasingly resorted to air-strikes.
According to the just released BNI-MPM’s analysis by division and state, Karen State has suffered the most air-strikes with 73 days, followed by Sagaing Division with 70 days. According to attacks by month, the highest number of attacks occurred during November 2022.
The Junta has also conducted 25 days of airstrikes in all provinces and territories in January this year, according to BNI-MPM’s records.
According to the data, nearly 500 civilians were killed and over a million people have been force to flee to safety, due to the Military Council’ s airstrikes.
