Rising Mass Killings in Myanmar: Over 460 Dead in 2024

Mass killings in Myanmar have surged for the fourth consecutive year, with at least 466 people reported killed in massacres from January to October 2024, RFA reported yesterday citing the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar.

This increase follows the military’s intensified scorched earth tactics since the February 2021 coup, including heavy artillery and airstrikes targeting civilian areas.

Recent incidents include the execution of 22 civilians in Budalin township and airstrikes that killed 13 in northern Shan state. The number of mass casualty events has escalated, from 113 in 2021 to 379 in 2023. Human rights advocates condemn these acts as war crimes, attributing them to the junta’s strategy of intimidation against civilians to undermine support for armed opposition groups. Calls for international accountability are growing, with Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN urging the Security Council to take action against the military regime.