ASEAN Beat | Security | Southeast Asia

Airstrikes on Civilians in Rakhine Will Increase, Say Myanmar Military Defectors

The military’s intensification of aerial bombing is aimed at defending key townships in the region.

Defectors from the Myanmar military told The Diplomat that the regime will intensify its airstrikes on the civilian population in the country’s Rakhine State.

In an interview in Myanmar’s Arakan region on February 25 this year, two military defectors – Major Myint Zaw Than and Sergeant Kyaw Han Toe – told this correspondent that the military will increase its air raids in the Arakan region.

“There will be more airstrikes on the civilians in Arakan in the coming months because the military has to defend the three townships [Sittwe, Kyaukphyu and Manaung] still under its control,” Myint Zaw Than said.

Despite this, Kyaw Han Toe predicted that the military would eventually be defeated by the Arakan Army (AA) and will lose control of the three townships.

Of all the ethnic armed organizations operating in Myanmar, the AA has wrested control of the largest expanse of territory.

The defectors identified the “support of the people” for the AA as the outfit’s biggest strength, which has enabled it to stage a series of spectacular victories against the military over the past decade.

An annual report issued by the United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) that covers the period from July 2025 to June 2026 also pointed to a marked escalation in aerial attacks across the country in the months preceding the elections. Aerial attacks have continued unabated since........

© The Diplomat