360 civilians were killed in Tanintharyi Region between 1st February 2021 when the military coup took place, and the end of January 2023, according to Southern Monitor.
In the aftermath of the coup, 136 civilians were injured, bringing the total number of civilian casualties to 496.
Launglon was the township with the most civilian casualties in Tanintharyi Region, with 99 killed and 28 injured.
Similarly, civilian casualties in the townships of Yebyu, Dawei, Palaw, and Thayetchaung were also high, according to the Southern Monitor.
Peaceful protesters shot dead during brutal crackdowns by the Junta troops, civilians arrested and slain during military operations, civilians killed by Military Council’s bombardments, and locals and motorcyclists shot dead under the pretext of safety reasons were among the casualties list of Southern Monitor.
In addition, family members of People's Defense Forces (PDF) fighters, and politicians from the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, who were targeted and assassinated by the Military Council’s sycophants Pyu-Saw-Htee, Thway-Thaut and Sun-Ye militias, were also included in the list.
On the other hand, Southern Monitor also documented the incidents like local PDFs’ assassination of Pyu-Saw-Htee and Thway-Thaut members, informants, administrators and some employees, unintentional or accidental killings on some occasions, and deaths of the target's family members as collateral damages.
The casualties list covered the ordinary civilians, unarmed Pyu-Saw-Htee members, pro-Junta informants, administrators, party members, and relatives of the PDF. All of them were included in the list because of the difficult nature of independently verifying the background information of the victims, Southern Monitor explained.
Southern Monitor also urges the armed organizations to follow military ethics as much as possible to minimize civilian casualties.
Southern Monitor is an independent research group that monitors socio-economic, peace, and human rights issues in Tanintharyi Region of Myanmar.
