Locals reported that the coup junta has intensified its use of kamikaze drones, also known as loitering munitions, against civilian populations in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan (Rakhine) State, where fighting has continued for over a year.
Kyaukphyu Township residents said that the junta has increasingly targeted civilian settlements and camps sheltering internally displaced people (IDPs), despite the absence of active combatants in those areas.
In January, a drone strike hit Kyaukkalay and Ngaoke villages, where displaced families had taken refuge. The attack killed three people—both IDPs and local residents—and injured two others.
U Seik Phyu Aung, a 78-year-old survivor from Kyaukkalay Village, said the strikes were clearly aimed at civilians.
“The regime even bombed schools. We’ve been hit four times by drones coming in from the sea. There are only villagers and displaced people here, no combatants. Sometimes the junta bombs us with aircraft first, and then follows up with kamikaze drones,” he said.
Since March 2025, the junta has steadily deployed both bomb-carrying drones and kamikaze drones across Kyaukphyu Township. Many of the targeted villages lie between four and more than ten miles away from any active conflict zones, raising further concerns about deliberate civilian targeting.
Data compiled by DMG shows that at least 30 people have been killed or injured in drone attacks across nine villages, including Kyaukkalay, Zinchaung and Mawgyi, since March last year.
Survivors said the pattern of attacks suggests that vulnerable groups—particularly IDPs, children and the elderly—are being deliberately targeted.
“We saw a reconnaissance drone while we were getting ready to flee. I was warning people to hurry when the kamikaze drone hit at about 4 p.m.,” said U Kyaw Thein Myint from Mawgyi Village.
He said the strike happened in February as he was trying to evacuate with his family. While he escaped unharmed, both of his parents-in-law and several relatives were injured in the blast.
Residents also claim that the drones are being launched from the Danyawaddy Naval Base in Kyaukphyu Township, as well as from naval vessels in the Bay of Bengal and along the Thanzit River.
Despite being equipped with advanced cameras and sensor systems capable of distinguishing between civilian and military targets from hundreds of metres away, locals believe the regime is intentionally directing these attacks at civilians.
Fighting in Kyaukphyu Township first broke out on February 20, 2025, in Simaw Village—more than five miles from the township’s main urban centre—and has continued ever since.
