Mass Killings in Myanmar Rise for Fourth Consecutive Year, With 466 Civilians Killed in 2024

Myanmar's military junta has escalated its violent crackdown on civilians, with at least 466 people killed in massacres in the first nine months of 2024, according to the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar. This marks the fourth consecutive year of increasing mass killings since the February 2021 coup.

The research group documented 435 mass killings between January 1 and early October, with an additional 31 civilians killed in recent incidents, including 25 in Sagaing region's Budalin township and six in a junta airstrike in Myaung township.

The junta's scorched earth offensive has targeted villages, schools, and religious buildings, using heavy artillery and airstrikes, resulting in mass casualty events. Residents have reported arrests, torture, and summary executions by junta troops.

The number of civilians killed in mass casualty events has risen from 113 in 2021, 245 in 2022, and 379 in 2023. The ethnic Arakan Army reported that junta troops killed over 70 civilians in a raid on a village in Rakhine state's Sittwe township on May 19.

A lawyer condemned the military's actions as "war crimes under international law." The shadow National Unity Government and human rights groups have accused the junta of using fear and intimidation to erode public support for armed opposition.

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Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, has called for the UN Security Council to bring a case against the junta in the International Criminal Court, citing the impossibility of holding the military regime accountable within the country.

The junta has denied targeting civilians, but attempts to contact spokesperson Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun went unanswered.