The civilian death toll in Myanmar’s ongoing civil war continues to escalate, according to the tallies released by Radio Free Asia.
According to the report, 123 civilians were killed by the military in the “most fiercely contested” conflict zones, including Sagaing in the north, Magway in the central region, and the eastern states of Shan and Kaya, in the month through June 15.
These casualties occurred during clashes between junta troops and rebel fighters, who have put up stiff resistance to junta troops throughout the country.
In some instances, such as in Sagaing’s Kawlin township, residents were subjected to massacres after being detained and used as human shields by the military.
One resident from Khan Thar village recounted how the soldiers forced the detained individuals to lead the way through a minefield, carrying supplies to clear the path.
“The villagers had to do everything they were assigned,” he said. “Then, [the soldiers] interrogated the villagers. In some cases, they killed them.”
During the four-week period, the junta troops were responsible for the deaths of 43 civilians in Sagaing, seven in Magway, 37 in Shan and Kayah states, and 28 in regions controlled by the Karen National Union ethnic rebel group, including Bago and Tanintharyi regions, and Kayin and Mon states.
Another eight civilians were killed in Mandalay region, Kachin, and Chin states.
In another incident, the military carried out a series of “clearance raids” in Magway’s Yesagyo township from May 26-29, resulting in the deaths of six civilians.
According to a resident of Yesagyo’s Yay Lei Kyun area, the victims, including a 40-year-old woman and five men in their 30s and 40s, were either hit by shelling, arrested, and killed while fleeing the raids, or killed upon returning to their village to extinguish fires started by the junta troops.
“The soldiers killed men accused of being members of the People’s Defense Force,” the resident said, adding that the lone woman – a mother of two children named Ma Khin Mar Po – was killed by artillery fire as troops entered Mi Hpa Yar village on May 26.
“Between May 26 and 29, the troops burned 671 houses in our Yay Lei Kyun area,” he said.
The resident said that three columns of 250 junta troops took part in the raids on 27 villages in Yay Lei Kyun, which left “more than 3,000 people homeless.”
In southern Shan state’s Moebye township, junta troops killed at least 35 civilians between May 25 and June 12, according to the Karenni Human Rights Group. Among the victims were 10 women and three minors aged eight to 17.
Banya, the founder of the Karenni Human Rights Group, accused the military of “committing war crimes” with impunity and ruling “through fear” to retain power following the coup d’état on February 1, 2021.
“Whenever it becomes difficult for [the military] to crush any armed organization, they kill the people in that region,” he said. “They do such things to instill fear among the people, to ensure there are no ethnic armed troops in the region.
Political analyst Than Soe Naing said as the opposition in Myanmar grows stronger, the junta will respond with more severe atrocities.
“Since the junta is increasingly using airstrikes, I think the number of civilian casualties and loss of villages and houses will inevitably grow,” he said.
According to the Institute for Strategy and Policy (Myanmar), an independent research group, since the military coup over two years ago, authorities in Myanmar have killed at least 8,640 civilians, with more than 2,400 deaths occurring in armed conflicts.
