The military council has increased violence against civilians, particularly in the capital Loikaw in Karenni (Kayah) State, following the launch of “Operation 1111”, the Karenni Human Rights Group (KnHRG) said in a statement on 11 January.
Between October and December 2023, 81 civilians including men, women and children were killed and 82 injured in Karenni State, according to the KnHRG statement.
The majority of the victims died from aerial bombings and artillery shelling by the military junta, the statement said.
Since the military junta has lost control of bases and areas in Karenni State, it is responding with air and artillery strikes, KnHRG said.
In addition, KnHRG added that junta soldiers are also breaking into or destroying homes of locals who have fled the fighting.
Colonel Phone Naing, military chief of the Karenni Army (KA), said that it is typical for the military junta to resort to air strikes when it suffers heavy casualties.
“They just resort to airstrikes whey they suffer heavy casualties. This is the typical approach of the military council. They will do what they want when they are losing. It looks like they don’t care about human rights violations or anything like that. At a time when the whole country despises them, now they will do whatever they can. On many occasions, they have resorted to bombing when they faced heavy casualties or were losing,” Colonel Phone Naing said.
Since the military coup, fighting in Karenni State has remained fierce. To stop the military’s airstrikes, the KnHRG calls for a halt to arms sales to the military junta and for it to be prosecuted for the war crimes it has committed.
In its annual report published on 11 January, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that the military council carried out more airstrikes on ethnic areas in 2023.
Since the coup on 1 February 2021, until 31 December 2023, the military junta has carried out 984 aerial attacks in Karenni State, the Progressive Karenni People’s Force (PKPF) stated on 1 January.
Sent by Kantarawaddy Times.