Post-coup conflicts kill 100,000 people in Myanmar

By Nava Thakuria

Shocking statistics come out from Myanmar, a military controlled southeast Asian nation, where at least one hundred thousand  people have been killed in relentless conflicts since 1 February 2021 military coup dethroning a democratically elected government in Naypyidaw led by pro-democracy icon  Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi. UN rights expert Kelley Anne Eckels-Currie, while addressing the UN General Assembly on 27 October 2026 in New York, asserted that the poverty-stricken country's conflict death toll since the last coup had passed 100,000 including civilians. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar termed the current President Min Aung Hlaing as a tyrant, who continues using the same tactics to terrorize the common people by deliberately attacking civilians to force them into submission.

As the country is engulfed in a civil war like situation since the 2021, where the government forces have been facing widespread armed resistance groups, frequent air attacks on crowded areas have become a normal scenario in  various regions. It has compelled  millions of Myanmarese to leave their villages to take temporary shelters in abandoned localities with no basic amenities for months. According to the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),  more than four  million individuals were  internally displaced till September this year across the Buddhist majority country of 55 million people. Many of the displaced families have entered as refugees in neighboring countries like Thailand, India and Bangladesh. The United Nations recently estimated that over 16 million people in Myanmar now require humanitarian assistance.

Alleging a fraudulent practice in the 2020 national elections, where  the Suu Kyi-led  National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide victory across Myanmar, the Min Aung-led  military seized power. Later he took charge as the President of Myanmar orchestrating a contested military-run election in the Parliament. Ms Kelley commented that even though junta leader Min Aung has changed his military dress (in April 2026), he's still the same ruthless dictator.

The government machinery had arrested thousands of anti-junta activists including politicians and media professionals. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, over 32,000 people were detained since the 2021 takeover, where no less than 15,000 (including Suu Kyi remain behind bars) along with around 20 media workers remain under detention.

Another serious issue, haunting the young population as the military rulers continue engaging them in the battle fields as newfound soldiers against the resistance groups. According to the Institute for Strategy and Policy, the military's conscription program engaged more than 136,300 individuals till October 2026 since the military dictators launched the special service law in February 2024.

Today, the ethnic armed organizations and pro-democracy People's Defence Forces (under the exile National Unity Government) maintain  control over 42 percent of the country's landmass, where the military junta (Tatmadaw) sticks to only 22% areas of Myanmar including its capital city Naypyidaw and some major urban centers. Vast areas under Sagaing and Magway regions as well as Kachin, Shan, Karenni (Kayah) and Karen (Kayin) States have turned into battlegrounds where gun fighting continues.

Amidst all developments, the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed group remains active in western Myanmar, has occupied 14 townships (out of total 17) in Rakhine (Arakan) State as well as Paletwa township of neighbouring Chin State that borders India and Bangladesh.  Reports of gun fighting between the military personnel and AA fighters are pouring from the outskirts of Sittwe (the Rakhine capital city),  Kyaukphyu and Manang Island. Lately  the partially AA-controlled Kyauktaw areas are facing devastating military bombing and airstrikes. An air attack on 28 September killed 50 civilians and 60 got injured. The AA condemned the attacks stating that the frustrated military personnel were adopting notorious tactics after they were losing in the battlefields. In a recent statement issued by the AA, the outfit claimed that intense fighting has lately  gripped the surrounding areas of Sittwe

Meanwhile, Myanmar's UN envoy  Kyaw Moe Tun (who was appointed before the 2021 coup and the military-backed regime recently announced his status withdrawn) called on the international community to block all kinds of aid to the military regime. Speaking at a UN committee to discuss the Myanmar situation recently, Moe Tun also urged the concerned member states to immediately stop supplying weapons and jet fuel to Myanmar as the supplied fuel is used to conduct airstrikes on civilians.

Progressive Voice, a human rights advocacy organization, in its 23 October press statement criticized the  United States  of America administration for initiating a re-engagement  with the Myanmar regime.  Terming the Naypyidaw regime as an illegal entity, PV chairperson Khin Ohmar, commented that Washington should recommit to support Myanmar's democratic movement and immediately cease all engagement with the junta. "Washington appears willing to sideline human rights and democracy in favor of what it considers core US national interests," she added.

Speaking to this writer from Yangon (formerly Rangoon), a Suu Kyi  supporter, expressed his frustration over the burning situation in Myanmar. Alleging the junta-backed authorities to continuously harass common Myanmarese citizens, the NLD activist also denounced the supply of weapons by the regimes in China and Russia to the Myanmar regime. Even the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leadership, which initially boycotted the Myanmar military dictators after the seizure of power from Suu Kyi in 2021, has lately warmed up the relation, he added.