Amnesty International (AI) reported On December 21st, that the Military Council has been conducting indiscriminate attacks resulting in civilian casualties as a response to offensives initiated by the Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs).
The Junta is facing its biggest battlefield challenge since its 2021 coup, with coordinated EAOs’ attacks on military posts in Shan State, bordering China, and in western Rakhine State, AI noted.
An air strike in Shan State earlier this month used bombs that were most likely cluster munitions, AI said in a statement, citing evidence analyzed by its weapon investigator.
According to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the three groups in the Three Brotherhood Alliance, the attack killed a resident and injured five people.
Civilians in Pauktaw Township, Rakhine State, suffered looting, arbitrary arrests, inhumane treatment and torture, AI said citing interviews with 10 civilians.
"The Myanmar military has a blood-stained record of indiscriminate attacks with devastating consequences for civilians, and its brutal response to a major offensive by armed groups fits a longstanding pattern," said Matt Wells, director of Amnesty's Crisis Response Programme.
Junta's spokesperson, Zaw Min Tun, has denied regime forces target civilians in operations.
In a statement issued before the Amnesty report, the Three Brotherhood Alliance said the Military Council regularly threatened civilians including through arbitrary arrests, use of human shields, and torture.
More than 300,000 people have fled the fighting that erupted in late October, when the ‘Operation 1027’commenced, with more than 2 million displaced overall since the coup, according to the United Nations (UN).
