Executive Summary
Since the 2021 coup, the State Administration Council (SAC) has committed widespread and systematic attacks on civilians. In Southeast Burma, the ‘four cuts’ strategy has been reinvigorated by the Burma Army, attacking civilians and armed resistance fighters alike. However, where past counterinsurgency operations were predominantly conducted through ground forces, since 2021, the SAC has unleashed a relentless wave of attacks by air, leaving civilians unable to escape or shield themselves effectively from sudden and devastating assaults. These attacks are conducted indiscriminately, and in many cases, are directed at the villagers and their communities. 

Air strikes in Southeast Burma since 2021 are particular in their nature: they are conducted without warning, on villages, homes and schools, and with suddenness and magnitude. While some air strikes are conducted on particular villages using a limited number of large munitions, other areas have been subject to waves of bombardment. Some air offensives follow fighting or other military activity, but other air strikes are conducted in the absence of any identifiable link to the armed conflict. Despite their variation, the scale and magnitude of such attacks on civilians across locally-defined Karen State is consistent.  

In this report, KHRG presents the multiple, widespread, and interlinked impacts of SAC air strikes on villagers and their communities, through villagers’ own experiences and perspectives. Reports collected on incidents occurred within the reporting period (February 2021 to June 2024) show the dire consequences of the SAC’s direct and indiscriminate air attacks including extensive loss of life and injury; mass displacement; physical damage to entire communities; and deep psychological harm. To this day, many villagers and children remain displaced, unable to return to their villages, facing acute food insecurity as well as escalating health, education and livelihood challenges. 

Villagers navigate these impacts and challenges amidst the ongoing risk of air strikes. They employ self-protection strategies such as using bunkers, fleeing the area upon warnings from others on aircraft movements, as well as reducing visibility and movement to avoid being targeted. Community leaders, villagers, and local civil society and community-based organisations do their best to utilise community structures to mitigate the impacts and challenges, however they do so in an environment of armed conflict, diminishing resources, the SAC’s blockage of humanitarian aid, and a void of international support. There remain significant gaps in protection, particularly for children, pregnant women, the elderly and persons with disabilities.

By shedding light onto the nature and scale of SAC attacks, which amount to gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, KHRG aims to redress the lack of information on the situation in Southeast Burma, and to contextualise air strikes within the protracted history of oppression by the Burma Army in Karen State. By showing the impacts of air strikes on the lives of villagers in Southeast Burma since 2021, and projecting the voices of witnesses and survivors, we aim to bring attention to the immediate needs and ongoing hardships of villagers caused by SAC air attacks, urging for relevant stakeholders to take decisive action to protect civilians. This report also serves as an invitation to acknowledge local villagers’ hopes and demands for a future of peace, justice and freedom.

Introduction

Since the 2021 military coup[1], the State Administration Council (SAC)[2] has conducted widespread and systematic attacks on civilians throughout Burma[3], in attempt to consolidate power and suppress opposition. As part of this effort, the SAC has increasingly relied on the use of air strikes, including within locally-defined Karen State[4]. Despite international calls for the SAC to cease its attacks on civilians, air attacks in Southeast Burma have increased at an alarming rate, having detrimental impacts on villagers and their communities.

The use of air strikes is consistent with the Burma Army’s[5] longstanding practice of conducting attacks on civilians to undermine resistance movements, spread terror, and force civilians under its control. Whilst previously realised through ground attacks under the ‘four cuts’ strategy (attacks on civilians conducted with the aim of severing ties of armed resistance groups to food, recruits, funds and intelligence), air attacks since the 2021 coup have both reinvigorated and intensified past military operations. Attacks by air, characterised by their suddenness, magnitude, and unpredictability, leave villagers with fewer means of self-protection, cause extensive destruction to communities, and create a threat that permeates all aspects of everyday life. Nowhere in Karen State is safe. 

SAC air attacks are conducted indiscriminately against civilians in the context of fighting between armed resistance groups and the SAC. However, many attacks are directed at villagers in the absence of any identifiable link to the conflict and away from the presence of armed resistance fighters. The nature of these attacks on civilians vary - with some air strikes directed at particular villages or specific community buildings, while others are carried out by bombardment, impacting multiple villages over an extended period of time. When examined holistically, and consistent with the Burma Army’s enduring view of villagers as being an extension of armed resistance groups, it is alleged that air strikes in Karen State are used as a form of collective punishment. These attacks amount to war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity where they are conducted throughout Southeast Burma, placing an obligation on the international community to act to prevent such crimes and assist with the urgent protection needs of civilians.

While the international community remains inactive, villagers and communities in Karen State continue to face the devastating consequences of SAC air strikes, including rising civilian casualties, the destruction of entire villages and communities, mass displacement, food insecurity, escalating health concerns, and ongoing psychological harm. These consequences are multiplying, as the SAC continues to act with impunity, and local actors struggle to mitigate challenges in an environment of ongoing armed conflict, and a lack of resources without international support. For the international community to act expediently to stop the SAC’s attacks on civilians, and to assist with urgent protection needs, a clearer picture of the situation on the ground is required. 

With that goal in mind, this report aims to shed light on the widespread and grave impacts of SAC air strikes, looking not only at the direct consequences of death, destruction and displacement, but the additional associated challenges on livelihoods, education, health and psychosocial wellbeing. It aims to highlight the way in which villagers aim to mitigate these impacts through village agency strategies, to map the available local and international support, and critically, to identify the gaps in protection. To achieve this, KHRG has gathered information from villagers who experienced SAC air strikes since the 2021 coup (and until June 2024). It is the views of these villagers that form the basis of this report and require the immediate attention of stakeholders. Their experiences are set out throughout the report, and their demands are found at the last chapter, namely for SAC air strikes to end, for communities to be able to return home and be reunited, and for the accomplishment of peace and justice in Karen State. 

Key Findings

Since the 2021 coup, the State Administration Council (SAC) has conducted frequent and widespread air strikes against villagers and communities in Southeast Burma, as an extension of the ‘four cuts’ strategy. They have done so with total impunity. These unlawful attacks are conducted indiscriminately and directly on civilians, and as a form of collective punishment, resulting in high levels of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure. These attacks amount to war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity. 

SAC air strikes vary in terms of the types of weapons and methods used, however some characteristics can be identified: villages and villagers are most often the object of attack, no warnings or other precautionary measures are taken by the SAC to avoid harm to civilians, reconnaissance is frequently conducted prior to an attack, and sometimes attacks take place at night. The impacts flowing from these SAC air attacks are multi-dimensional, widespread and severe, affecting all aspects of life in Karen State. 

Direct and indiscriminate attacks against villagers in Karen State have resulted in extensive loss of life and severe injuries of villagers, including a high number of casualties of children and the elderly. The magnitude, suddenness and unpredictability of air strikes prevent villagers from being able to implement effective protection strategies, leading to increased casualties. This is compounded by the lack of access to urgent and sufficient treatment due to SAC attacks on clinics and healthcare workers, and transportation challenges in armed conflict.

Air attacks have destroyed homes, schools, clinics, temples, churches, food stores and other community buildings in Karen State. Attacks on village buildings have separated villagers and precluded access to healthcare, education and places of worship. With plantations and farmland also destroyed, and facing rising costs of inflation, villagers face severe livelihood challenges and food insecurity.

SAC air strikes have caused acute impacts on villagers’ psychological wellbeing. Air strikes have instilled permanent terror into communities, affecting all aspects of villagers’ life and causing villagers to remain constantly vigilant to attacks. The distressing nature of air strikes is evident through the extreme physical reactions reported by villagers including sleep deprivation, shock, crying, and panic. Grappling with the loss of life and destruction of homes, air strikes have also caused widespread anguish and collective suffering.

SAC air strikes have caused mass and protracted displacement. Families are often separated and villagers often have to flee without their belongings due to the lack of warnings. Displaced villagers face significant challenges including food insecurity, life-threatening health issues, inadequate shelter, and disruptions to education. Villagers are required to take measures to reduce their visibility and many continue to flee from one place to another, avoiding further attacks. 

Villagers, local civil society, and local leaders are working tirelessly and in adverse circumstances to mitigate the impacts of SAC air strikes. They do so amidst active armed conflict, with limited resources, blocks on aid and attacks by the SAC, and a void of international support. As such, significant protection gaps remain, including access to healthcare, food security, education and specific gendered needs. Children, pregnant women, and the elderly face particular challenges. 

There is a lack of international action concerning the SAC’s use of air strikes against civilians. Villagers demand an urgent response to stop such attacks and to provide them with the necessary protection and support. They want to return to their villages, live in peace, and be free from oppression by the Burma Army. 

Recommendations

To international stakeholders, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and regional and foreign governments:

• Impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Burma/Myanmar and implement extensive sanctions on the supply of arms and military material to the Myanmar military including aviation fuel, aircraft, aircraft parts, maintenance supplies, munitions, technologies, training or other technical assistance or services. 
• Implement further coordinated and targeted sanctions on oil and gas revenues, as well as sanctions against junta officials to undermine their ability to finance their attacks on civilians.
• Increase support to local civil society (CSOs), community-based organisations (CBOs) and ethnic service providers who are currently assisting villagers to recover from, and cope with, the severe impacts of State Administration Council (SAC) air strikes. Assist with the development of comprehensive support mechanisms, including psychological support, for affected communities. 
• Engage with neighbouring countries to ensure the effective passage of aid into Burma, in particular via land borders and through cross-border aid organisations and local civil society organisations already operating in the area.
• Acknowledge that the military junta is the root cause of the current human rights and humanitarian crisis, and the perpetrator of widespread, indiscriminate and direct attacks against civilians, as well as the driver of mass displacement in Burma. Acknowledge that the SAC is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
• Refrain from conferring any legitimacy onto the SAC, including by signing agreements with it and presenting it with credentials. Similarly, refrain from engaging in any form of cooperation with the SAC, including military and economic cooperation that helps them to perpetuate human rights violations and unlawful attacks on civilians. 
• Support international investigations to hold the SAC accountable for its crimes against civilians in Burma, including by prosecuting SAC leaders in international courts such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), and through universal jurisdiction proceedings. 
• Broaden the scope of international investigations to include the systemic violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in Karen State, particularly the malevolent use of air strikes to inflict terror and suffering against villagers.
• Listen to and support local and civil society organisations in their efforts to document human rights abuses in Southeast Burma, advocate for victims’ rights, and provide comprehensive support to ensure their safety.
• Support authorities and organisations operating in the formal refugee camps in Thailand, given the increase of villagers permanently displaced due to SAC air strikes, to ensure the betterment of the wellbeing, livelihood opportunities, and liberty of populations seeking refuge in Thailand. 

Methodology

To understand the challenges that villagers have faced due to SAC air strikes since the 2021 coup, KHRG interviewed villagers who had experienced or witnessed air attacks between February 2021 and June 2024. KHRG interviewed 22 villagers (including six village leaders) from all seven districts of locally-defined Karen State in May 2024. Interviews were semi-structured and followed a preliminary questionnaire prepared for KHRG field staff on the issue of air strikes. Three additional interviews were conducted in August 2024 with local civil society and non-governmental organisations involved in the local humanitarian response.

Drawing from KHRG’s documentation database, KHRG also analysed 141 previous interviews with local villagers (and two interviews with two members of local ethnic armed groups) relating to air strikes, conducted from February 2021 to July 31st 2024. These interviews were conducted by local researchers trained by KHRG to document human rights violations occurring in their communities.[6] All participants were informed of the purpose of the interviews and provided consent for their interviews to be used in KHRG’s publications. This report is based on those two types of interviews as well as material documented in 66 KHRG’s field reports (including incident reports, short updates, and situation updates) received from March 2021 to July 2024. 

The interviews and field reports cover all seven districts within KHRG’s operational area: Doo Tha Htoo (Thaton), Taw Oo (Toungoo), Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin), Mergui-Tavoy, Mu Traw (Hpapun), Dooplaya and Hpa-an.[7] These areas are commonly referred to as ‘districts’ and are the names used by the Karen National Union (KNU)[8], as well as by many local Karen organisations, and local villagers. KHRG’s use of the district designations represents no political affiliation; rather, it is rooted in the fact that these designations are most commonly used by the local population.

Due to insecurity in the region, all seven districts are not equally represented in the sample of interviewees and field reports. The majority of interviews were conducted in Dooplaya and Mu Traw Districts, and the majority of field reports cover Dooplaya, Mu Traw and Mergui-Tavoy Districts. The imbalance in representation is a result of varied security issues, travel difficulties, and personal risks faced by KHRG field staff when documenting human rights violations in Karen State. For instance, only 14 interviews and 14 field reports were obtained from Kler Lwee Htoo District due to heightened security risks. Likewise, the actual numbers of SAC air attacks on communities are vastly undervalued in this report, due to challenges faced by community members in both reporting and documenting.

To ensure the security of interviewees and affected villagers, their personal names and locations have been replaced by single- and double-digit letter codes, where appropriate. These codes are applicable only to this report and have no link with the actual names of the villagers, or past published KHRG reports. All names and locations censored correspond to actual names and locations on file with KHRG.