Displaying items by tag: military junta

On a scorching day in Karenni state, from a hilltop overlooking an army base, former army captain Nay Myo Zin uses loudspeakers to address soldiers loyal to Myanmar's ruling military aiming to persuade them to defect, claiming that the regime's fall is imminent. The country is at a critical juncture, with the junta’s brutal repression being challenged by ethnic groups and a new generation of insurgents. Over the past seven months, the resistance has made significant gains, capturing up to two-thirds of the country. Since the 2021 coup, which ousted the elected civilian government and imprisoned leader Aung San Suu Kyi, tens of thousands, including many children, have been killed, and 2.5 million displaced. This is an under-reported conflict, not only because of the world’s focus on Ukraine and Gaza, but also because there is no press freedom and foreign journalists are rarely admitted to the country.

In Myanmar, the devastating impact of landmines is exemplified by Nyien, a four-year-old who lost both legs in an explosion while collecting plums. In 2023, 188 people were killed and 864 wounded from buried bombs - compared to 390 casualties in 2022. Children constitute over 20% of the victims. Unicef has described the use of landmines as ‘reprehensible and illegal’, urging all parties to prioritise civilian safety. Their use has surged since the 2021 military coup, especially in regions where resistance groups have been most active. Three countries - Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen - had higher mine casualties in 2022, and the long-term dangers posed by undetected landmines, often many years after a conflict, are considerable. Meanwhile, the opposition has claimed responsibility for a drone attack on Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital city: see

The military junta in Myanmar has carried out its deadliest attack yet on civilians in rebel-held areas. It bombed a meeting of community leaders, killing about 100, including 30 children. The junta has increasingly used airstrikes to crush resistance since it seized power in 2021, often targeting schools and clinics run by the opposition. Myanmar’s military is losing against armed ground battles that have sprung up since the coup, so they are increasingly relying on airstrikes, targeting the most vulnerable. The whole country is up in arms, and every single community is involved in some kind of armed resistance against this military dictatorship. So they are trying to terrorise the civilian populations into submission with mass arrests, torturing prisoners, beheading civilians, and media repression. Graphic images posted online and verified by Al Jazeera and other media show burning limbs at the recent bomb scene. The UN warns of worsening human rights violations across Myanmar.