Airstrikes by the junta have intensified across Arakan (Rakhine) State, pushing civilian casualties higher and causing a sharp rise in the number of children suffered.
Data compiled by the DMG shows that 35 children have been killed or injured as a result of junta airstrikes in Arakan State between January and April 2026.
Parents and residents said children are now living under constant threat from sudden aerial attacks, suffering both physical harm and deep psychological distress that is increasingly disrupting their sense of safety and future.
"I wasn’t home when the airstrike hit our village. When I heard the explosions, I rushed back immediately because I was so worried about my children. I can’t really explain how scared they must have been. That night, my children developed fevers from shock and didn’t sleep at all after the attack,” said Daw Win Win, a mother from Kyauksepyin Village in Mrauk-U Township.
During the April 19 bombing of Kyauksepyin Village, 13 people including 2 children were injured, and a monastery was completely reduced to ashes.
Villagers said that since the incident, children in the community have been visibly distressed, reacting with intense fear whenever they hear aircraft overhead.
In recent weeks, the junta has increased its use of coordinated air raids involving multiple aircraft, with repeated strikes on non-military targets including residential areas, monasteries, schools, and clinics.
"Now that junta aircraft are flying and bombing in coordinated groups, the number of casualties has gone up, and many of those affected are children. We still don’t have a way to deal with the psychological trauma these children are going through. Some of them are even too scared to play outside anymore. These airstrikes are destroying both their lives and their mental well-being,” said a female social activist in Arakan State.
As a result of the ongoing bombings, children are enduring both physical injuries and long-term psychological stress, forced to live in a constant state of fear.
In conflict-affected areas, children remain largely unprotected and are denied basic rights such as safety, survival, and education amid ongoing war crimes committed by the coup regime.
