Myanmar Military Continues Atrocities Against Civilians and Religious Communities

Author: Sibusiso Gugushe

October 27, 2025

HRRC condemns the recent airstrike carried out by Myanmar’s military junta on innocent civilians during Vesak/Thadingyut. The airstrike forms part of the war crimes and human rights violations, including genocide and ethnic cleansing, that have taken place in the country since the military coup in February 2021. 

[Image credit: Kaung San/Monywa]

At least 32 people, including several children, lost their lives and more than 50 were injured on Monday, October 17th after junta paragliders bombed a peaceful candlelight vigil in Chaung-U Township, Sagaing Region, Myanmar. The gathering was being held to celebrate the Full Moon Day of Thadingyut, the Buddhist festival of lights—one of the most sacred days on the religious calendar. A resident told The Irrawaddy that two bombs were dropped from paragliders onto the anti-regime vigil, which had just begun in Bon To village, roughly 10 km from Chaung-U Town, at around 7 p.m.

Unfortunately, attacks on religious groups are prevalent in Myanmar. Due to the ongoing civil war, many Rohingya Muslims are forced to join Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army, groups that are largely responsible for the persecution of the Rohingya. Terrible acts like unlawful killings, mutilation, and large-scale destruction of property have been reported alongside these airstrikes—many of which have been carried out without clear military targets, raising serious protection concerns for the civilian population. Strict communication limits have made it hard to confirm the number of civilian deaths, but reports suggest that over a thousand Rohingya have been killed and tens of thousands forced to flee their homes.

Since December 2024, the military has started using motorized paragliders and paramotors to quietly drop bombs without aiming at specific targets. These small aircraft can carry large mortar shells and have been used in at least 137 attacks on civilians, mostly near airbases—including 46 in areas hit by earthquakes. The UN has also received 26 reports of the military using chemical substances, such as fertilizers, in explosives, with 22 such cases occurring in Shan State.

Natural disasters have further exacerbated Myanmar’s human rights crisis. In September 2024, Typhoon Yagi caused severe flooding and landslides, killing more than 440 people and forcing over a million people from their homes across 70 towns. The floods destroyed villages, crops, and livestock. Then, in March 2025, an earthquake hit central Myanmar, killing nearly 4,000 people. Despite the devastation, the military continued blocking aid groups from reaching earthquake victims in areas outside their control, especially in regions populated by ethnic minorities.

The tragedy unfolding in Myanmar is a reminder of the devastating cost of unchecked power. As families mourn loved ones lost to bombs, floods, and war, HRRC stands with the people of Myanmar in their fight for freedom, justice, and peace. The world must not remain silent.

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Glossary

• Aid groups – Organizations that provide help to people in need, such as with money, food, etc.

• Airstrike – An attack made by military aircraft that drop bombs on a target.

• Anti-regime vigil – A peaceful gathering or event held to protest against a government (it is was held strategically in/around a township protected by members resisting the juntas oppression).

• Arakan Army – An armed group based in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, involved in conflict with the military and sometimes accused of human rights abuses.

• Atrocity–very cruel or terrible act or action 

• Candlelight vigil – A peaceful gathering where people hold candles to honor victims or show support for a cause.

• Chemical substances / fertilizers (used in explosives) – Ordinary materials, like farming chemicals, that can be turned into harmful or illegal weapons.

• Conscription – The forced enlistment of people into military service.

• Coup (Military coup) – When the military takes control of the government by force, removing the existing leaders.

• Ethnic cleansing – The forced removal or killing of people from a particular ethnic or religious group.

• Ethnic minorities – Smaller cultural or religious groups within a country that differ from the most of the population.

• Exacerbated – Make (a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling) worse.

• Fertilizer – A substance  used to make soil produce larger or more plant life.

• Genocide – Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

• Human rights violations – Actions that take away basic rights and freedoms from individuals, such as freedom of speech or the right to life and safety.

• Humanitarian access – The ability of aid workers and relief organizations to reach people in need, especially during crises or disasters.

• Landslide – When a large amount of earth, rocks, and debris slides down a hill or mountain, often due to heavy rain or earthquakes.

• Military junta – A government led by military leaders who take power by force rather than through elections.

• Mortar shell – A type of explosive weapon fired from a short, portable tube.

• Mutilation – An act or instance of destroying, removing, or severely damaging a limb or other body part of a person or animal

• Paragliders – Someone who jumps out of an aircraft with a special parachute that allows them to travel a long horizontal distance before they land

• Paramotor – A small flying machine powered by a motor and parachute-like wings, which can carry bombs or weapons when used in warfare.

• Prevalent – Generally or widely accepted, practiced, or favoured

• Rohingya – A Muslim ethnic minority group in Myanmar that has faced discrimination, persecution, and violence.

• Typhoon– A tropical storm in the region of the Indian or western Pacific oceans

• War crimes – Serious violations of the laws of war, such as targeting civilians or using banned weapons.

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Sources

1. Human rights Watch. (2025, July 28). Myanmar: Arakan Army Oppresses Rohingya Muslims. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/07/28/myanmar-arakan-army-oppresses-rohingya-muslims

2. Nwe, T., Brang, J., & Fishbein, E. (2024, October 4). 'Like we are trapped': Minorities suffer amid conflict in Myanmar's Rakhine. Al Jazeera. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/4/like-we-are-trapped-minorities-suffer-amid-conflict-in-myanmars-rakhine

3. Pyae, M. (2025, October 7). Myanmar Junta Strike Kills at Least 32 on Buddhist Festival of Light. The Irrawaddy. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-strike-kills-at-least-32-on-buddhist-festival-of-light.html

4. Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities. (2025, September 25). OHCHR. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://bangkok.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/2025-09/FACTSHEET_HRC60_OHCHR%20Myanmar.pdf

5. Sky News. (2025, March Sky News). Rohingya Muslims being forcibly recruited to fight for Myanmar military. 6. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYhjzdQiG64