Regime troops seen during a crackdown on a peaceful anti-coup protest in the capital Naypyitaw in February 2021. / The Irrawaddy
At least 3,010 civilians were killed by Myanmar junta troops over the past 11 months, while nearly 2,000 were injured, said the parallel National Unity Government (NUG).
With military regime forces stepping up attacks on civilian targets, the NUG’s defense ministry said in its latest report published on Monday that the junta committed 6,305 assaults on civilians from September last year to August this year. Sagaing Region suffered the most with 1,923 attacks, followed by Magwe with 864 and Yangon with 601.
Sagaing also saw the highest number of resistance attacks on junta forces, followed by Magwe, according to the NUG’s report. Yangon experienced the highest number of bomb attacks on regime targets.
Much of Myanmar has been in revolt since last year’s coup, with the regime’s deadly crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters forcing many young people to take up arms.
Last September, the NUG declared a defensive war against the junta. Since then, the NUG’s armed wing, the People’s Defense Forces (PDF) and allied ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), have escalated their attacks targeting the Myanmar military and regime administrations across the country, including major cities.
The NUG’s defense ministry said that since the declaration of the defensive war, over 20,150 junta soldiers have been killed and another 7,000 wounded, while 1,500 resistance fighters have died in clashes. Last week, the NUG said that the regime has now lost control of at least half the country to PDFs and EAOs.
In response, the military regime is committing increasing numbers of atrocities including arbitrary killings, extrajudicial executions, the use of torture, using civilians as human shields, air and artillery strikes on civilian targets, the looting and burning of houses and the use of sexual violence to terrorize the population.
Some 20,153 houses as well as several religious buildings have been destroyed by junta attacks.
On Monday, the United Nation’s (UN) Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar said that there have been an increasing number of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the regime since the coup.
Nicholas Koumjian, head of the UN Mechanism, called on all countries to support breaking the cycle of impunity in Myanmar and bringing perpetrators of the most serious crimes to justice.
Rights group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said that it had confirmed 2,273 civilian deaths since the military takeover, while over 15,400 people have been arrested by the regime.
AAPP added that the actual numbers of deaths and detentions are likely much higher and that it will continue to update the figures.
