myanmar military airstrikes civilians coup explained
Did you know that Myanmar’s military has been bombing its own civilians?
Myanmar Air Force fighter jets. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
In the past few months, it launched its largest airstrike campaign since 2021 and killed more than 100 people, including children.
The devastated entrance of an hotel and convention center heavily bombarded by the Myanmar army. (Photo by Thierry Falise/LightRocket via Getty Images)
But what is happening in Myanmar, and why is the military bombing people?
A protester holds a portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi during a demonstration against the military coup. (Photo by Aung Kyaw Htet/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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.
A protester makes the three finger salute with the Sule Pagoda and police officers in the background during a demonstration against the military coup in Myanmar (Photo by Aung Kyaw Htet/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
After the coup, the military declared a state of emergency, promising new elections, which have not yet taken place.
Protesters make three-finger salutes and hold up banners and posters as they march against the mlitary coup. (Photo by Stringer/Getty Images)
A protester carries a placard supporting the newly formed opposition National Unity Government (NUG) during a demonstration against the military coup. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
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.
Members of the People's Defence Force, the armed wing of the civilian National Unity Government opposed to Myanmar's ruling military regime, take part in training. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
The NUG also created an armed wing called the People’s Defence Force (PDF) whose goal was to combat the junta's forces.
Members of the People's Defence Force, the armed wing of the civilian National Unity Government opposed to Myanmar's ruling military regime, taking part in training. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
In September 2021, after the junta established a caretaker government, the armed resistance groups officially declared a "defensive war" against the junta.
Female members of the People's Defence Force (PDF) practice in a training camp. (Photo by Thierry Falise/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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.
Members of ethnic rebel group Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) take part in a training exercise. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
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.
The people who sought refuge near the Thai-Myanmar Border line from the civil war are seen waiting to get medical services. (Photo by Kaung Zaw Hein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Faced with losses, the junta turned to intensifying airstrikes as an attempt to crush the resistance.
The Karenni National Defense Force (KNDF) members are trying to retrieve an unexploded air bomb that fell on a farm. (Photo by Sit Htet Aung/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
But the military has repeatedly attacked civilians, bombing schools and religious buildings and other civilian infrastructure, including displacement camps, according to Amnesty International.
A boy from an Internally Displaced People (IDP) settlement stands at the mouth of a bunker dug to shelter people in case of a mortar or airstrike attack. (Photo by Thierry Falise/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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.
Members of the Mandalay People's Defence forces take part in training at their camp. (Photo by David Mmr/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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.
Kassy Cho
