Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese.
On the evening of Dec. 27, Myanmar’s military dropped a massive bomb on Pi King village in Shan state’s Pekon township, creating a crater as deep as a person’s height, according to a resident known as Panda.
“This is where the 500-pound bomb hit a residence and destroyed several other houses in this area,” said Panda who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke to RFA Burmese on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
Three women were injured in the attack, he said.
The bombing is just the latest to have killed or wounded civilians this year as the military expanded its campaign of air and artillery strikes, amid growing losses by its ground troops to Myanmar’s myriad anti-junta forces.
According to statistics collected by RFA, the junta carried out air and artillery attacks in 12 of Myanmar’s 14 regions and states in 2024, except for the regions of Yangon and Ayeyarwady, where the military has retained near-total control.
These attacks led to 5,489 civilian casualties — 1,769 deaths and 3,720 injuries — outpacing those of the previous three years combined and accounting for just over 60% of related casualties since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup d’etat.
In the three years from 2021 to 2023, junta air and artillery strikes killed 1,280 civilians and injured 2,374 others, for a total of 3,654 casualties.
The latest statistics follow a report by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Myanmar), which said that at least 540 civilians were killed by junta airstrikes in the first 10 months of the year — mostly in western Myanmar’s war-torn Rakhine state.
The bombing of Pi King village took place just 11 days after evening airstrikes on Sagaing’s Yinmarbin township killed five civilians and seriously injured 10 others, despite a lack of fighting between the military and anti-junta groups at the time, according to an aid worker.
“Aircraft were frequently flying over the area, and residents were afraid of returning to their homes, so we could only begin rescue work at the break of day [on Dec. 17],” said Myat Ko of the Kani-Yinmarbin People’s Embrace Group. “Soon after, some injured people died at the hospital. Two had died on the spot [during the strikes].”
Sources from the township suggested that the junta had intentionally targeted civilians in the attack, given the absence of clashes, possibly for perceived ties between residents and anti-junta forces.
Losses mount despite shift
Col. Naw Bu, the spokesperson for the ethnic Kachin Independence Army, or KIA, one of the most powerful groups fighting the junta for self-determination in northern Myanmar’s Kachin state, said the increase in the number of related civilian casualties in 2024 was unsurprising, as “up to 80% of the junta’s attacks were conducted by air and artillery” in his region.
“It’s not easy for the junta to conduct a ground offensive,” said Naw Bu, whose KIA now controls more than 50% of Kachin state, including the entirety of the China-Myanmar border. “Instead, they are mainly using air and artillery. The junta is relying on [these types of] attacks.”
As anti-junta forces have gained experience and weaponry since the coup, they have presented an increasingly formidable challenge to the military’s ground troops.
RELATED STORIES
After 2024 setbacks, junta forces now control less than half of Myanmar
Junta airstrikes kill 540 Myanmar civilians since new year, mostly in Rakhine state
Myanmar Christians, wary of airstrikes, celebrate Christmas in a cave
Despite the military’s uptick in air and artillery strikes as a response, the junta lost control of 94 townships in 2024.
Several rebel groups recently told RFA that junta forces now control less than half the country after suffering major battlefield setbacks in 2024 — including the loss of command headquarters in Shan and Rakhine states.
Sgt. Zeya, a former air force officer now advising the opposition as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement of civil servants who left their jobs to protest junta rule, told RFA that the military might have suffered more setbacks this year if it hadn’t responded with increased strikes.
“If the junta hadn’t used artillery attacks and air strikes [to support its troops], the military would have lost 90% of its forces because the difference between the junta’s soldiers and our soldiers is their attitude and mentality,” he said. “They joined the military to seek more opportunities ... They have no strong sense of ideology or patriotism, nor are they deeply tied to the military. No one wants to die fighting when this is the reality.”
More strikes anticipated in 2025
Observers told RFA that they expect the junta will expand its use of air and artillery attacks even further in 2025 as part of a bid to prevent further loss of territory.
Thein Htun Oo, executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, run by former military officers, said the junta’s forces will “respond more aggressively” with strikes next year if the opposition forces continue their offensives.
Residents and rescue workers told RFA that civilian casualties are sure to increase if the attacks are intensified.
Aung Myo Min, human rights minister for Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, said that despite the NUG’s best diplomatic efforts to cut off the junta’s access to aircraft, fuel, and raw materials for the production of military weapons, “countries are still selling arms, both openly and secretly.”
“Some countries support democracy in Myanmar, but others are more interested in how they can benefit by cooperating with the junta,” he said. “We realize that a lack of effective action will cause people to suffer more and more.”
On Dec. 15 alone, the military commissioned six Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters, six Chinese-made FTC-2000G fighter jets, one K-8W fighter jet, and one Y-8 support aircraft.
According to Justice for Myanmar, which monitors conflict in the country, the military is predominantly receiving aviation fuel from China and Russia, while the junta has said that the raw materials it uses to produce military weapons come from 13 countries, including China, Russia and India.
Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun by telephone for comment on the military’s use of air and artillery strikes went unanswered by the time of publishing.
Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.