Myanmar marks four years of a bloody civil war on Saturday with anti-regime forces holding the upper hand on battlefields across the country amid growing hopes that the junta led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing will buckle and be defeated, perhaps by the end of the year.

But in the meantime, the latest casualty figures make for a grim read. According to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), at least 73,069 people have died in this conflict with almost 20,000 deaths added to the list in 2024.

That makes Myanmar the third deadliest war behind Ukraine and Palestine – in first and second place, respectively – out of 20 conflicts monitored by the U.S.-based ACLED, which collates statistics and maps and analyses conflict data.

Of the dead, the United Nations says at least 6,000 were civilians with “countless more” wounded, including the many who have lost limbs to landmines and unexploded ordnance, and a further 3.5 million people are internally displaced.

The U.N. has estimated about 20 million people – or a third of the population – will require assistance this year, including 6.3 million children and 7.1 million women. Donor fatigue has also set in. Only 34 percent of the $1 billion required by........

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