A/80/490
43.
On 12 May, 22 students and two teachers were reportedly killed in an airstrike on a
school in O Htein Twin village, Sagaing Region. Over 100 others were injured. Witnesses
reported that cluster bombs were used in the attack and that there were no combatants or
active conflict in the area at the time. At least 10 civilians were reportedly killed in an airstrike
that hit a wedding in Kyunkyi village, Bago Region on 25 May. The bride was among the
deceased. A nighttime airstrike on a Sagaing Region monastery where displaced people were
sheltering reportedly killed at least 23 people, including four children, on 11 July. On 17
August, at least 25 civilians, including children, were reportedly killed by a junta airstrike on
Mawchi, Kayah State.
44.
On 6 October, the Buddhist Thadingyut holiday, at least 24 civilians were reportedly
killed when a motorized military paraglider dropped bombs on a candlelight vigil for political
prisoners in Sagaing Region. The Special Rapporteur spoke with a man whose leg was
injured in the attack. He described the scene after two bombs were dropped in short
succession, leaving scores with shrapnel wounds:
We were chanting when the bomb dropped. I realized that I was hit by some shrapnel. I tried
to crawl like a crocodile and dragged myself into a ditch… Most of the people who were
standing fell down. … The situation was totally chaotic. … The place was totally dark. People
were shouting for help and screaming in panic.
45.
A few hours later, a paraglider dropped more bombs on the site of the first attack.
Junta forces reportedly shelled one of the clinics treating victims a few days later.
46.
Junta forces have continued to carry out arson attacks on villages and other civilian
sites in the months since the earthquake. Over 100,000 civilian homes have reportedly been
destroyed in arson attacks since the coup. The Special Rapporteur also continues to receive
reports of sexual violence perpetrated by junta soldiers, included gang rape. Soldiers
reportedly raped up to 25 women during raids on villages in Kanbalu Township, Sagaing
Region, in June 2025.
47.
Anti-junta armed groups, including People’s Defense Forces and ethnic resistance
organizations, have also been accused of grave abuses against civilians, including killings,
torture and sexual violence. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has
recorded 169 killings of junta administrators, their family members and other civilians by
anti-military groups, including People’s Defense Forces.
48.
Opposition armed groups, including some People’s Defense Forces, have reportedly
been forcibly recruiting civilians in areas they control. Armed groups often demand that
families or communities provide a certain number of recruits or face consequences, including
violence or detention. If recruits are not offered up voluntarily, some groups reportedly
abduct young men to meet quotas. These groups have at times imposed recruitment demands
on ethnic communities other than their own in areas that they have recently occupied.
49.
The Special Rapporteur spoke with a Myanmar citizen of Nepali descent from
Mogoke, Mandalay Region, a town that was captured by the Ta’ang National Liberation
Army (TNLA) in 2024. Earlier this year, the TNLA arrested Nepali community leaders after
they rejected the TNLA’s request to form a Nepali “town guard force” under its command.
The man described how the TNLA has carried out the forced recruitment drive:
The TNLA has a policy: If a family member has three sons, they must give one for
recruitment. If we don't provide [recruits], they said they will arrest most of our community
members. They threaten us like this. They are targeting our Nepali community. It is obvious
because when we go around town, the TNLA stops our motorcycles and asks our ethnicity.
If you are Nepali, they take you away. If you are Burmese or another ethnicity, they let you
go.
50.
He described how children as young as 13 or 14 have been detained by the TNLA.
V. Violence against Rohingya and Rakhine civilians
51.
In Rakhine State, where the Arakan Army is battling junta forces and Rohingya armed
groups, civilians are trapped in a vortex of violence and oppression. All parties to the conflict
stand accused of committing grave human rights abuses against civilian populations.
Desperate Rohingya families are again crossing the border in large numbers, with
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