Why Is No One Talking About Myanmar’s Military Bombing Its Own Civilians?

Did you know that Myanmar’s military has been bombing its own civilians?

In the past few months, it launched its largest airstrike campaign since 2021 and killed more than 100 people, including children.

But what is happening in Myanmar, and why is the military bombing people?

The turmoil in Myanmar can be traced back to February 2021 when the military seized power in a coup.

It arrested key leaders, including the country’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, accusing Suu Kyi's party of fraud in the election in November 2020.

After the coup, the military declared a state of emergency, promising new elections, which have not yet taken place.

Mass protests then erupted across Myanmar against the coup, but the military violently cracked down on protesters, killing thousands of people.

In response to the bloody crackdown, armed resistance groups began springing up around the country, and in April 2021, ousted lawmakers and activists formed a shadow government called the National Unity Government or NUG.

The NUG also created an armed wing called the People’s Defence Force (PDF) whose goal was to combat the junta's forces.

In September 2021, after the junta established a caretaker government, the armed resistance groups officially declared a "defensive war" against the junta.

By early 2022, the opposition groups had gained control of substantial territory, and in 2023, the head of the junta government said it had lost stable control of "more than a third" of townships.

The situation escalated in October 2023, when the PDF, along with armed ethnic groups, launched a major offensive to weaken the junta’s control, capturing several towns and military outposts in northern Shan and Rakhine states.

Faced with losses, the junta turned to intensifying airstrikes as an attempt to crush the resistance.

But the military has repeatedly attacked civilians, bombing schools and religious buildings and other civilian infrastructure, including displacement camps, according to Amnesty International.

In July 2024, the junta escalated its airstrikes dramatically, conducting more than 350 bombings in August alone –the most since the coup.

In September, 118 civilians were killed in Rakhine State by the airstrikes.

Then in October, another airstrike in a town in Rakhine killed at least 15 people.

The violence, which has continued to escalate, has displaced more than 3.2 million people, with about 40% of them being children, according to UNICEF.

And one third of Myanmar’s population is now in need of humanitarian assistance.

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