Myanmar military escalates civilian airstrikes, UN probe finds
UN investigators say Myanmar's military has intensified aerial attacks on civilians using paramotors and gyrocopters, with 20 killed in Rakhine this month.
A United Nations investigation has found that Myanmar's military has sharply escalated airstrikes against civilians, increasingly relying on low-cost aircraft such as motorized paragliders and gyrocopters in its conflict with armed opposition groups.
The report, released Tuesday by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), documents a yearlong probe into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. It found abuses intensified around army-organized elections in December and January, with aerial attacks surging in the months before and continuing unabated since.
Investigators highlighted a growing pattern of "double-tap" strikes, where a second attack follows an initial one, apparently targeting first responders and those attempting to flee. In several incidents in the Sagaing region, paramotor pilots reportedly cut their engines to glide silently toward targets, leaving civilians little warning.
The report emerged as the Arakan Army, a major ethnic armed group in Rakhine state, said 20 civilians had been killed and 22 injured in airstrikes across three townships between August 1 and 11, including one attack involving up to eight aircraft lasting about an hour.
Myanmar's military government did not respond to either the UN probe or the Arakan Army's allegations. It has previously said it only targets legitimate military objectives and has labeled resistance forces as terrorists.
The IIMM, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2018, said it gathered evidence from more than 1,600 sources and witnesses for potential future prosecutions. It is also investigating alleged crimes by opposition groups, including reports of sexual violence against Rohingya women, summary executions, and child recruitment by Arakan Army members.
The report noted numerous arrests under an electoral law carrying up to 20 years in prison or the death penalty for criticizing the elections online or distributing "anti-election" leaflets. Critics have dismissed the vote as a sham designed to consolidate the military's grip on power after its 2021 takeover.
Independent tallies by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners indicate more than 8,000 civilians have been killed and over 31,000 arrested by security forces since 2021.