Research Group Says Myanmar Military Regime Burned More Than 6,000 Civilian Homes Since Coup

An illustration of Myanmar's military anti-coup demonstration. (Wikimedia Commons/VOA/Sithu Naina)

JAKARTA - Myanmar military regime forces have burned down at least 6,158 civilian homes in the 13 months since launching a coup, mostly in areas where anti-regime resistance is strongest. The Sagaing region suffered nearly 60 percent of the damage, according to the independent research group Data for Myanmar.

Houses were burned in 165 places nationwide from February 1, 2021, to March 1 this year, Data for Myanmar said in its latest report, as reported by The Irrawaddy March 3.

Fighting between regime forces and the People's Defense Forces (PDF) continues across the country, particularly in Chin, Kayah, Karen, and Kachin states as well as the Sagaing, Magwe, Mandalay, and Yangon regions. The resistance forces used guerrilla tactics and had inflicted heavy casualties on the junta troops.

In retaliation, regime forces are increasingly carrying out indiscriminate attacks on civilians, including air and artillery strikes, arbitrary killings and massacres, burning people alive, using civilians as human shields, as well as looting and burning homes.

The junta's arson attacks on civilian homes began in May last year, and have increased in recent months.

Illustration of clashes in Myanmar. (Wikimedia Commons/VOA News)

Last month alone, 2,882 homes were burned, which is almost half of all property burned since the coup. In January, 1,059 homes were destroyed in arson attacks, while 960 homes were burned in December and 384 homes in November.

The property was destroyed in either air and artillery strikes or burned by regime soldiers and pro-junta militia Pyu Saw Htee.

On Wednesday, Moekaung Village in Yinmabin Township of Sagaing County was set on fire, following clashes between PDF and junta forces, according to a local PDF member who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The fighting escalated yesterday (Wednesday) and continued into the night. Junta troops burned some houses and arrested some civilians as well. Some villagers were also injured. People had to flee to the jungle," he told The Irrawaddy.

Moekaung village is located just north of Thapyayaye village, which was completely burned in a junta attack on February 28 that also killed two civilians.

"An old woman in Thapyayaye who could not escape was burned to death along with village houses. A man was shot dead from a helicopter," said a resident of Yinmabin.

Meanwhile, at least eleven Thapyayaye villagers were arrested, according to a statement on Thursday from Myauk Yamar PDF.

Myanmar illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Ninjastrikers)

In February, at least 30 junta soldiers were killed and more than 50 injured in 17 separate clashes with local PDFs, while two PDF fighters were killed and five injured, Myauk Yamar said.

"Junta soldiers suffered heavy casualties from our guerrilla attacks and mines. We didn't even need to use bullets. When they lost, they targeted innocent civilians," the PDF member added.

"They don't understand how people have to struggle to survive, so they don't care about people. They see the villagers and villages as resistance against them. Villagers' houses are burned for no reason and people have to restart their lives from scratch. zero when their house was demolished."

Separately, people from about a dozen villages, including Thapyayaye and Chin Pone villages, in Yinmabin and nearby Kani Township were forced to leave their homes, Yinmabin residents said.

In Thantlang Chin State, regime forces burned more than 1,000 homes in 26 reported attacks since September. 101 houses burned for two days on February 25 and 27, the Thantlang-IDPs Placement Affairs Committee, a local organization helping people displaced from Thantlang, said in a statement on Tuesday. It is known, the mountaintop town of Thantlang previously had about 2,700 homes.

Myanmar illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Maung Sun)

Then, about 20 houses in Yesagyo Magwe Township were also burned by the junta on February 26, after a local PDF reportedly confiscated a junta-affiliated oil container in the area.

In total, the Myanmar military regime has burned down 3,689 civilian homes in Sagaing Region, 1,032 in Chin State, 885 in Magwe Region, and 311 homes in Kayah State, as well as dozens more in southern Shan State, Karen and Mandalay States, Tanintharyi. and Bago, according to Data for Myanmar.

To note, the research group gathered their information from media reports, local human rights groups, and refugee organizations. However, the data for Myanmar does not include unverified information, so the actual number of houses burned may be higher than the reported figure.

A spokesman for the military regime denied to the media that the junta did not carry out arson attacks on civilian homes.

As of Wednesday, junta forces have also killed 1,590 civilians and detained nearly 12,500 people since the coup.

Myanmar Coup. The VOI editorial team continues to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Casualties from civilians continue to fall. Readers can follow the news covering the Myanmar military coup by clicking this link.