The resurgence of landmine threats in Karen State since the coup has heightened dangers for the local population, while injured victims continue to face insufficient support and worserning livelihood challenges.
The coup has triggered renewed clashes across the country, including Karen State, leading to a sharp rise in the use of landmines. In Karen State, civilian casualties from these hidden deadly devices continue to climb.
Karen State-based civil society organizations (CSOs) reported that between January and the end of June 2025, at least 13 people were injured or killed by landmines in Kamarmaung Town alone, located in Hpapun Township, Karen State.
The casualties included a wide range of civilians, among them children, pregnant women, the elderly, and students.
Landmine survivors often face difficulties maintaining their family livelihoods due to injuries that prevent them from working normally, compounded by a lack of effective assistance, according to Saw Alber, field director of the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG).
“Landmines make life much harder for local communities. On top of that, survivors often face even greater struggles because they don’t get enough support. Right now, nearly all armed groups are using landmines, but we can’t say for sure how many belong to which group,” he told Than Lwin Times.
After the coup, not only junta troops but also resistance groups have started using landmines extensively.
In Karen State’s rural areas, locals have been injured by landmines while foraging for bamboo shoots and wild vegetables in nearby forests or working in orchards, and there have also been landmine explosions reported in urban wards.
On July 29, amid flooding in Hlaingbwe Township, Karen State, a local was injured after stepping on a landmine planted by junta troops.
While urinating in the bushes near the junta’s Infantry Battalion 28 base in Hlaingbwe Town, he stepped on a landmine and sustained a leg injury. Local rescue teams initially took him to Hlaingbwe Town Hospital before transferring him to a bigger hospital in Hpa-An City, the capital of Karen State.
As Myanmar ranks highest globally for landmine casualties, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has warned that urgent measures are needed to protect civilians.
According to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), during 2020, the last full year before the coup, there were 252 civilian casualties from landmines, whereas after the coup UNICEF recorded 1,052 civilian casualties from landmines and unexploded ordnance in 2023 and 1,082 in 2024.
