UN Investigators Claim Myanmar's Military is Deliberately Targeting Civilians

Author: Aahana Nagwekar

August 14, 2026

HRRC condemns the Myanmar Military’s attacks on innocent civilians. It is imperative that the Myanmar government immediately cease its human rights violations, protect civilians from harm, and take accountability for the violence throughout the country.

[Image credit: Stephen Brookes/Flikr]

United Nations investigators have documented a sustained campaign of deliberate attacks on civilians by Myanmar's military, including airstrikes on homes, schools and camps for displaced people, alongside arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence. The findings appear in the annual report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM). The report concluded that the frequency and intensity of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the military and by various armed groups continued to escalate.

Attacks intensified ahead of the January 2026 elections, which were held and controlled by the military and have not let up since. Investigators are tracing strikes on homes, schools, medical facilities, religious buildings and displacement camps, and identifying some of the military units responsible. 

One notable shift is in tactics. The military's growing use of motorised power gliders and drones has made it harder for civilians to see attacks coming, cutting the time people have to flee or find shelter. The Washington Post reported that these low-cost aircraft, including motorized paragliders and gyrocopters, are central to the escalation. Investigators also documented widespread torture and sexual violence in military-run detention facilities, including cases tied to a 2025 law criminalizing criticism of the elections, under which people have been jailed for up to 20 years or face the death penalty for acts as minor as posting critical comments online.

IIMM said it is also investigating abuses by armed groups opposed to the military. Those include allegations against Arakan Army members of rape and sexual violence against ethnic Rohingya women, summary executions, child recruitment and the destruction of mosques in Rakhine State. The findings draw on more than 1,600 sources, including over 750 witness accounts, along with photographs, video, forensic evidence and satellite imagery.

---

Glossary

• Arbitrary Detention – the arrest or deprivation of liberty of an individual by a government or state actor without a lawful basis or proper legal procedure.

• Crimes Against Humanity – specific crimes committed in the context of a large-scale attack targeting civilians, regardless of their nationality

• Displacement – the act or process of removing from an office, status, area, or job

• Imperative – not to be avoided or evaded : necessary

• Forensic Evidence – criminal evidence acquired through scientific methods, including ballistics, blood tests, and DNA tests to be used in court

• Gyrocopter – uses a propeller for propulsion that can be mounted tractor style like an airplane on the front

• Paragliders – a steerable glider with inflatable wings proposed for use

• Power Gliders – a powered sailplane or power–assisted sailplane

• Sexual Violence – any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, or other act of a sexual nature that is committed or attempted by another person without freely given consent

• Summary Executions – the deliberate killing of individuals outside of any legal framework

• Sustained – maintained at length without interruption or weakening

• War Crime – a crime (such as genocide or maltreatment of prisoners) committed during or in connection with war