Myanmar military escalates civilian killings, monitor warns, amid diplomatic push

Highlights:

• Surge in violence linked to new military chief's tactics — ACLED
• Conflict monitor records more than a dozen mass killings in 2026, over 450 civilians dead
• Former junta chief turned president Min Aung Hlaing to visit Thailand on 6 to 7 August

Myanmar's military has sharply escalated attacks on civilians since a new administration took office in the war-torn country, a conflict monitor said on Monday, even as regional governments ramp up diplomatic engagement.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) said the onslaught was a result of the tactics deployed by Myanmar's new military chief, who took over in late March as his predecessor prepared to become the country's president.

"Since the ruling junta in Myanmar reconfigured its military command structure in March, civilians have been subject to the military's worsening repression and intensified aerial bombing campaign," ACLED said.

"These adjustments included the regular deployment of specialised groups of two to five jet fighters executing sustained airstrikes against single targets."

A Myanmar government spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters.

ACLED gathers data on Myanmar's ongoing conflict from media reports and local partners, as well as reports by the UN, international monitoring groups and local human rights organisations.

Myanmar was plunged into turmoil after the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in February 2021, sparking a civil war that has killed some 100,000 people and displaced millions.

Days before becoming president after an election that banned most opposition, Min Aung Hlaing appointed long-time loyalist and former spymaster Ye Win Oo as the military's new commander-in-chief.

Under his command, the military has launched renewed offensives into several border regions, including a frontier area with critical rare earth deposits and other vital trade routes.

"Reprieve for civilians is unlikely as the junta focuses its efforts on consolidating control following coup leader Min Aung Hlaing's transition from commander of the military to civilian president in April," ACLED said.

Mass killings

During the first half of 2026, ACLED said it recorded more than a dozen mass killings, resulting in over 450 civilian fatalities, around 40% of them in Myanmar's central dry zone known as the Anyar region.

In May, hundreds of junta troops swept through parts of Myit Chay township, across the river from the ancient temples of Bagan, killing at least 40 people, three residents of the area told Reuters.

"About 700 soldiers came into the town, grabbed the belongings of the people here and then beat them and killed them," said Ye Naung, 35.

Reuters could not independently verify accounts of the incident at Myit Chay, which is part of ACLED's event database with at least five fatalities and was reported by local media.

"The military's tactics in 2026 so far show merely shifting modalities of civilian repression rather than any reduction in its severity," ACLED said.

The political transition in Myanmar has triggered a flurry of diplomacy, with Min Aung Hlaing travelling to key neighbours India and China.

There has also been tentative re-engagement with the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc, which barred Myanmar's ruling generals from its summits after the coup.

Min Aung Hlaing will make an official visit to Thailand on 6 to 7 August, as he pushes for further legitimacy.