Using a headlamp for illumination, a Free Burma Rangers medical team treats a man wounded by the Burma Army. Photo courtesy of Free Burma Rangers (FBR).
Thick black smoke billows into the sky, twisting above the charred remains of what was once a thriving village. Flames consume wooden homes, their roofs collapsing as fire spreads relentlessly through the community. The air is heavy with the acrid scent of burning thatch and scorched earth, while displaced villagers watch helplessly from a distance, their lives reduced to ashes.
This scene of devastation followed a Burma Army airstrike on a civilian village in Arakan State on January 9, marking the start of another year of intensified fighting. After losing significant ground through February, the junta is now escalating attacks ahead of planned national elections, polls that exclude resistance-held territories and bar participation by pro-democracy parties. The regime’s objective is to recapture enough territory to present the election results to the international community as representing the will of the entire nation.
The attack in Arakan, like most strikes against civilians today, came without warning, sending families scrambling for cover as bombs rained down. Witnesses reported the deafening roar of jets overhead before the first explosion shattered the midday silence. Within minutes, homes, schools, and places of worship were engulfed in flames, leaving behind only smoldering ruins.
According to local reports, at least 42 civilians were killed and 50 others wounded, though the true death toll is believed to be much higher. Nearly 500 homes were reduced to rubble, forcing survivors to flee into nearby forests with whatever they could carry. The Burma Army has since cut off communication with the area, making it nearly impossible to assess the full extent of the destruction or deliver aid to those in desperate need.
A man in northern Karen State sits outside the wreckage of his home, destroyed by the Burma Army. Photo courtesy of Free Burma Rangers (FBR).
Ten months later, civilians remain displaced and suffering, still beyond the reach of most humanitarian assistance. Since that attack, the junta has continued its systematic campaign of terror against civilians. Across Arakan State and beyond, the military has escalated its onslaught, targeting villages, IDP camps, and critical infrastructure with increasing brutality. As the world watches, an entire nation is being reduced to ruins—one airstrike at a time.
Since the 2021 coup that overthrew Burma’s (Myanmar) democratically elected government, more than 6,000 civilians have been killed and 3.5 million internally displaced, according to United Nations estimates. However, these figures are likely conservative, as the junta restricts international observers from accessing most conflict zones. Soldiers and aid workers on the ground believe the true numbers are much higher.
In an effort to crush the resistance, the Burma military has intensified its brutal “scorched earth” campaign, targeting opposition areas with increasing ferocity. The resistance now includes over 120 armed groups, drawing fighters from nearly all of the country’s 135 ethnic groups, spanning various religions and social backgrounds.
Beginning in October 2023, pro-democracy forces steadily gained ground, and by February of this year controlled between 75% and 80% of Burma’s territory. However, since February and March, the resistance has suffered significant setbacks. In many regions, junta troops had been effectively trapped in their bases, relying on air resupply as convoys faced near-certain ambushes if they attempted to move.
The junta’s remaining strongholds, mostly in urban areas, are heavily fortified with landmines and drones, making direct assaults by resistance forces nearly impossible. This had created a stalemate around cities and towns, where ethnic resistance fighters, trained primarily for jungle warfare, are less equipped for prolonged urban combat.
Now, however, the front lines are shifting. The junta has begun launching new offensives from its urban bases, attempting to retake territory previously lost. With complete air superiority, the military is carrying out relentless air and drone strikes deeper into civilian areas, clearing a path for its ground forces to advance and reclaim control.
These strikes often target civilian villages, casualty collection points, and camps for internally displaced people. Even more alarming, hospitals, schools, churches, and other religious buildings have increasingly become deliberate targets of the regime’s brutal campaign.
An 18-year-old girl killed by a Burma military airstrike. Photo courtesy of Free Burma Rangers (FBR).
David Eubank, head of the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), a faith-based frontline aid organization, reported from Karenni State:
“Up here in Karenni, every single clinic and hospital has been bombed at least once—some twice. Every functioning medical facility is now hidden in the jungle, yet even these have been targeted in airstrikes. Churches have also been attacked—any church near the Burma Army that I know of has been bombed, shot at, shelled, or otherwise damaged. Only a few remain unscathed.”
While the junta appears to be deliberately targeting Christians, particularly the country’s small Catholic minority, Buddhist temples have also come under attack, despite the fact that the junta’s troops are overwhelmingly Buddhist. “Even monasteries have been hit,” Eubank added.
As the junta pushes to reestablish dominance, its attacks on civilians have intensified. In northern Karen State earlier this month, the Burma military launched operations to support its besieged ground troops.
The Burma Army is using Chinese-made Y-12 aircraft to drop supplies and ammunition to stranded troops. At the same time, jets and Y-12 planes are conducting airstrikes, employing bombs, gunfire, and mortars. Most of the aircraft, drones, and a large share of the Burma Army’s weaponry, both heavy and small arms, come from China and Russia. These two nations remain the junta’s primary arms suppliers, enabling its ongoing assault on civilians and resistance forces despite mounting international condemnation.
When fighting reaches civilian villages, residents are forced to flee, often unable to return, leaving them displaced. Many end up in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, which lack protection from the United Nations and receive little to no external aid. Worse still, these camps frequently become targets for the junta’s attacks.
Soldiers of the KNLA resistance army comfort one another after losing a comrade. Photo courtesy of Free Burma Rangers (FBR).
As of October, Burma Army offensives across Karen, Karenni, and southern Shan States have displaced thousands and intensified food insecurity, with villages destroyed by airstrikes and drone attacks. In northern Karen State’s Hsaw Htee Township, Burma military jets and drones devastated Nyaung Bin Gyi Village and nearby farms, forcing civilians to flee and leaving families unable to harvest crops. In central Karen State’s Dooplaya and Thaton districts, coordinated offensives included six suicide drone strikes, killing one resistance soldier and wounding several others.
The Pa-Oh National Organization (PNO), an ethnic armed group aligned with the Burma Army, is terrorizing civilians in Shan and Karenni States. In Loikaw District, Karenni State, Burma Army and PNO forces burned homes and displaced villagers. In southern Shan State, Burma Army and PNO units burned 22 houses and displaced more than 1,500 people from Baw Yar and surrounding villages. Across all regions, the Burma Army’s escalating air and ground offensives continue to devastate civilian populations and deepen the humanitarian crisis.
Until the international community intervenes, this war will not end. The junta controls all the airplanes, all the helicopters, and most of the drones in the conflict, courtesy of Russia and China. The flow of weapons from these two countries must be stopped, and China’s financial support must be cut off.
Without this, the pro-democracy resistance forces will have no way to seize the remaining cities and begin rebuilding their country. Until that happens, the war will drag on, destroying generation after generation.
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