Despite repeated calls for peace talks, Myanmar’s military regime intensified its air campaign in January, carrying out strikes in 40 towns across the country and killing over 170 people, according to an analysis by The Irrawaddy. The attacks, which deliberately targeted civilians and essential infrastructure, have been condemned as war crimes.
The airstrikes hit displacement camps, schools, hospitals, and detention centers housing prisoners of war. Of Myanmar’s 14 regions and states, only Yangon was spared. The primary targets included areas controlled by ethnic armed groups such as the Arakan Army (AA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), as well as resistance-held territories in central Myanmar’s Mandalay, Sagaing, and Magwe regions.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reported that around 100 people were killed by the regime in December, including 45 in airstrikes. In January, airstrike deaths surged nearly fourfold to over 170, including women and children, highlighting an escalation in the junta’s terror campaign.
Among the deadliest attacks:
• Kyauknimaw Village, Ramree Island: Nearly 40 civilians killed in the most lethal airstrike of the month.
• Mrauk-U, Rakhine State: A temporary prison holding junta soldiers and their families was bombed on Jan. 18, killing 28 people.
• Tanai, Kachin State: A junta airstrike on a gold mine controlled by the KIA killed 20 civilians. KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu stated that no fighting had occurred in the area at the time.
• Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region: A junta airstrike on Jan. 26 killed 18 people.
• Hsenwi, Shan State: Bombed on Jan. 1 before a truce was signed between the junta and the MNDAA.
Other strikes targeted public hospitals, health facilities, and displacement camps. In Demoso Township, Karenni State, three people were killed in a displacement camp bombing, while 11 died in a similar attack on a camp in Kale Township, Sagaing Region, on Jan. 31.
The majority of those killed were civilians, while only a small fraction were resistance fighters. The junta used warplanes, drones, and paragliders to carry out its attacks.
Despite junta chief Min Aung Hlaing’s claims of seeking peace and dialogue, his forces have continued aerial assaults from east to west and north to south.
Since the military coup in February 2021, the regime has conducted at least 3,292 airstrikes, killing 1,749 people—mostly civilians—according to Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica.
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