24 April 2026 By Ko Myo
YANGON, Myanmar — At least 49 civilians have been killed and over 100 others wounded in a single week of intensified attacks by the Myanmar military, according to a report released on Friday by the independent monitoring group Nyan Lin Thit Research.
The research group documented at least 103 separate incidents where junta forces targeted non-combatant populations across 49 townships between April 17 and April 23. In addition to the fatalities, the military reportedly carried out 228 arbitrary arrests during the same seven-day period.
The spike in violence comes even as the military leadership attempts to rebrand its administrative image. However, those on the ground say the reality remains unchanged.
“The leader of the junta may have put on a formal headdress, but the targeting of civilians has only increased,” a CDM officer based near the border told MPA. “Whether it’s the killing of innocents or the forced recruitment of youths for military service, none of the terror has subsided. Only the mask has changed.”
According to the report, the military employed various methods to target residential areas, including 45 ground raids, 22 airstrikes, and 10 separate attacks using kamikaze drones. Long-range artillery strikes also accounted for 10 of the recorded incidents.
Sagaing Region remains the deadliest zone, recording the highest number of civilian casualties. Mandalay and Karen State followed as the second and third most affected areas, respectively.
The data suggests a sharp escalation in the lethality of military operations. In early April, the group recorded 19 civilian deaths over a similar one-week period. The latest figure of 49 deaths marks more than a twofold increase in fatalities within a fortnight.
Mass arrests were most prevalent in the Mandalay Region, followed by Sagaing and Kachin State. Human rights organisations have warned that such large-scale detentions are often a precursor to forced labour or the use of civilians as human shields on the front lines.
As the conflict in Myanmar enters a critical phase, the findings from Nyan Lin Thit Research underscore the growing human cost of the junta’s efforts to maintain control. For the families in the 49 affected townships, the international community’s calls for “restraint” have yet to translate into any protection from the daily threat of the regime’s air and ground assaults.
