Description: Myanmar’s military junta, using motorized paragliders, killed more than 40 civilians in the Chaung – U township who attended a peaceful protest and were celebrating festivities as part of a Buddhist holiday. Witness reports from civilians claimed there were two consecutive attacks which caused devastating consequences and massive loss of life. The junta has upscaled aerial attacks on the various rebel groups leading an uprising against it, since most of the groups lacked defensive resources especially in the aerial department. The indiscriminate attacks on civilian population isn’t a foreign concept for the junta as its been shown in previous attacks on schools and residential areas where rebel groups hold the majority of the control. The brutal civil war in Myanmar has so far claimed the lives of more than 75 thousand people and the displacement of more than 3 million according to the UN.
Impact: The attack emphasizes the brutal methods used in Myanmar’s civil war for exerting power, influence and inciting fear within the ranks of the adversaries. Myanmar’s military junta has expanded ground and aerial offensives in the past couple of months capturing key trade and logistical routes while indiscriminately targeting the civilian population in the rebel occupied territories. The latest warfare campaigns arrive after the junta’s announcement in Jul which stipulated the lifting of the emergency state in several parts of the country and announcing election plans for Dec. Attacks such as this negatively influence the junta’s public standing and further delegitimize the organization’s authority in the country. The numerous rebel forces due to their fractured semi – alliances lack the capacities to constructively oppose the junta both militarily and politically. Taking into account the latest attacks, the civil war would further escalate as potential larger mobilization within the rebel forces emerges as an option.