Bellingcat has recognized at the very least 22 villages broken by airstrikes in Myanmar, regardless of a brief ceasefire declared by the State Administrative Management (SAC) or the navy junta from April 2 to 22 following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the nation on March 28. The ceasefire has been prolonged to April 30.
The earthquake’s epicentre was recorded simply 16km northwest of Mandalay, the second-largest metropolis in Myanmar, and it struck simply earlier than 1pm native time. Greater than 3,000 individuals died and support teams report that over 17 million individuals residing in earthquake-affected areas are in pressing want of meals, water, shelter and healthcare.
The nation, which has already been devastated by 4 years of civil struggle, continues to be hit with a number of aftershocks. The SAC, ruling Myanmar since seizing energy from the democratically elected authorities in 2021, declared a brief pause to combating solely after the primary opposition coalition introduced one – besides within the case of defensive actions.
Bellingcat has geolocated at the very least 19 villages broken in navy assaults in the course of the first 20 days of the ceasefire. Two of them have been recognized from floor reporting. Three further villages have been broken after the earthquake however earlier than the ceasefire – bringing the overall to 22 villages.
The airstrikes focused civilian areas in territory held by insurgent forces and territory the place the junta is combating to regain management. The villages broken after the ceasefire have been geolocated by cross-referencing our findings with NASA FIRMS or satellite tv for pc imagery alongside native and different media sources.
Villages bombed for the reason that earthquake on March 28; the epicentre is marked in black, yellow and pink
“It’s fairly clear that solely the navy can do airstrikes. The rebels don’t have aircrafts,” Aye Chan Naing, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), one in every of Myanmar’s largest unbiased media organisations, advised Bellingcat.
Missing jets or fighter planes, resistance teams closely depend on industrial drones “improvised into form of navy use,” Naing mentioned.
Concentrating on and scaring civilians is a part of the navy’s technique, he defined. “Should you help the rebels, then you understand we [the military] are going to burn the village.”
“At a second when the only real focus ought to be on making certain humanitarian support will get to catastrophe zones, the navy is as a substitute launching assaults,” mentioned UN Human Rights Workplace spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on April 11.
“For the reason that earthquake, navy forces have reportedly carried out over 120 assaults – greater than half of them after their declared ceasefire was as a consequence of have gone into impact on 2 April,” she advised journalists.
In response to native media reviews, the Myanmar navy carried out an aerial assault simply hours after the earthquake struck. Anti-junta armed group TNLA claimed that the navy bombed Nawng Len village, roughly 120km from the earthquake’s epicentre within the japanese Shan State. Seven members of a TNLA-aligned ethnic armed organisation (EAO) have been reportedly killed within the assault.
We weren’t in a position to independently affirm the airstrike, however we have been in a position to geolocate photos of a number of broken buildings, to a location within the north of the village. The intact buildings might be seen on Google Earth imagery in late January.
The navy junta didn’t reply to Bellingcat’s request for remark.
Assaults in Worst-Affected Earthquake Areas
Out of the 22 villages we recognized, 14 of them are in both Sagaing or Mandalay, which have been a few of the worst affected areas by the earthquake. Giant components of each areas are situated in central Myanmar, the place lots of townships are both contested or underneath junta management.
The navy tries to chop the rebels’ survival pipeline, Naing advised Bellingcat.
“They perceive that the rebels can’t survive with out civilians as a result of that’s the place they get meals and possibly tax cash,” he mentioned.
For the reason that rebels don’t have everlasting bases, members are tough to find. Whereas drones may strike and kill a couple of people, it’s a lot simpler for the military to determine and goal areas the place civilians stay, Naing added.
On April 9, twenty individuals have been reportedly killed in an airstrike in Nan Khan in Sagaing’s Wuntho Township. We have been in a position to geolocate photos of broken buildings to the coordinates 23.9983922,95.8881422.
Simply days earlier than this assault, on April 6, Thone Pan Hla in Chaung-U Township was reportedly attacked in an airstrike, killing three members of a household. “The motivation for such an assault on a village of melon farmers is obscure. It appears to be an effort to terrorise a civilian inhabitants that strongly helps the anti-regime Nationwide Unity Authorities (NUG) and its armed insurgent PDF wing,” reported The Instances newspaper. NUG is the nation’s parallel authorities in exile, elected democratically and ousted within the 2021 coup.
About 25km northeast of Thone Pan Hla is the village of Ngar Shan additionally in Chaung-U Township. Native information retailers reported that the village was burned down by the junta, simply days after the earthquake. Whereas we weren’t in a position to geolocate particular photos or independently affirm the reason for the fireplace, thermal hotspots have been detected on the website on March 31. This traces up with the timeline and reviews of 170 homes being burned in Ngar Shan on April 1 native time.
Photographs of the destruction shared on Fb present the village in ruins. Nonetheless, NASA’s Hearth Info for Useful resource Administration System, FIRMS, detects thermal hotspots in all the village within the early hours of that day.
A false-colour infrared map from Sentinel Hub’s Copernicus platform additionally reveals indicators of destruction within the village. Although generally used to evaluate vegetation well being, the sort of imagery exhibits plant-covered areas in deep pink, whereas cities and uncovered floor are gray or tan, and water seems blue or black. Following the assault, uncovered floor, indicative of doable harm, might be seen primarily within the northwest of the village.
Chaung-U Township is situated within the southern Sagaing area, the place the geography poses challenges for resistance armies.
“Not like ethnic resistance teams alongside Myanmar’s borders, or these in northern Sagaing close to India, the resistance forces in southern Sagaing would not have international borders throughout which they’ll try and retreat,” wrote Centre for Info Resilience’s Myanmar Witness in a December 2024 report.
Sagaing stays an epicentre for violence with a powerful resistance presence because of the area’s strategic significance. A state of emergency was declared within the state following the quake.
Repeated Bombings in Misplaced Territories
One other area of strategic significance is Mandalay the place the Central Navy Command is situated within the Mandalay Palace, reported to have been broken within the earthquake. Mandalay can also be a logistical hub in Myanmar’s heartland, and since late final 12 months, the SAC has been attempting to retake townships it has misplaced there.
Two of these townships are Thabeikkyin and Singu. Each have been attacked in the course of the ceasefire.
On April 19, the Myanmar navy reportedly carried out an airstrike on the village of Yae Htwet in Thabeikkyin Township. The assault killed at the very least 27 individuals, in accordance with the BBC. The report added that pro-military Telegram channels claimed the assault focused PDF camps, the armed wing of the anti-regime Nationwide Unity Authorities.
Only a day earlier, 13 individuals have been reportedly killed in an assault on Leik Kya village, situated 3km north of Yae Htwet.
A separate aerial assault was reportedly carried out over a village in Thabeikkyin, killing two individuals. It occurred on April 13 in Chaung Gyi alongside the freeway working by means of the village. We have been in a position to determine distinct options of the roof of buildings throughout the road from the assault and, together with the placement of timber, match satellite tv for pc photos of the realm.
Bellingcat additionally geolocated a faculty (right here: 22.689505, 96.016978) in Singu Township, the location of a reported airstrike in Kyi Tauk Pau village that injured six individuals.
Destruction of Faculties and Non secular Websites
The junta has a observe file of focusing on faculties. In response to a tally by Radio Free Asia final November, practically 200 faculties have been hit by airstrikes for the reason that 2021 navy coup in areas and states which have seen combating by resistance forces opposing junta rule.
A faculty in Sagaing’s Shwebo Township was reportedly bombed in the course of the ceasefire on April 20, killing two individuals, together with a pregnant girl. In response to DVB, Shwebo Township Folks’s Administration, an area anti-junta governance physique, mentioned displaced individuals have been taking shelter within the faculty.
Bellingcat discovered 4 faculties and 7 spiritual websites – monasteries and church buildings – broken in latest assaults.
Peter Bouckaert of the human rights and advocacy group Fortify Rights known as the assaults on church buildings and monasteries that may very well be internet hosting individuals displaced by the earthquake “an important violation of the legal guidelines of struggle”.
“These are protected websites underneath worldwide humanitarian legislation. They’re direct deliberate assaults on these protected establishments,” he advised Bellingcat.
The junta has a historical past of attacking spiritual websites. Through the ceasefire, a Baptist church was bombed in Mindat within the neighbouring Chin State, the place a number of armed opposition teams have emerged since 2021. Whereas there have been no reported casualties on the church, six individuals have been killed within the assault in town.
Mindat was taken over by resistance forces final 12 months amid reviews of a whole lot of houses destroyed by alleged junta shelling, arson, and airstrikes. Loads of this harm is now seen on Google Maps’ up to date imagery from January 2025.
A number of church buildings in Chin State have been broken up to now few years, Myanmar Witness had present in 2023. It’s the solely Christian-majority state in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
Battle for Management of City Rages Amid Ceasefire
Indaw is a small city near the border with Kachin, a state partly managed by the Kachin Independence Military (KIA)-led resistance forces. Indaw was reportedly bombed on April 1 when it was nonetheless underneath the junta’s management. In response to native accounts, two individuals have been killed and eight others injured. A monastery was broken within the assault. We have been in a position to geolocate the photographs of the aftermath by evaluating outdated footage and satellite tv for pc photos of the monastery with buildings nonetheless standing after the latest assault.
The destruction on April 1 was simply one of many many assaults the city has witnessed since resistance forces launched an offensive in August final 12 months. The junta’s reported airstrikes in opposition to the resistance displaced a whole lot of individuals, and lots of others fled.
Regardless of the ceasefire, on April 8, resistance forces captured Indaw after months of combating. Nonetheless, the junta has continued to hold out airstrikes in civilian areas, in accordance with reviews. As Richard Horsey, Senior Adviser on Myanmar at Disaster Group, beforehand advised Bellingcat, the junta typically bombs areas it has misplaced so individuals don’t have anything left to return to.
Photographs present that enormous components of Indaw have been destroyed final 12 months. Supply: Google Earth Professional Imagery
Assaults Throughout Burmese New Yr
The navy regime reportedly carried out airstrikes on monasteries over the four-day Thingyan or Burmese New Yr pageant from April 13 to 16. In response to information compiled by an unbiased information website, The Irrawaddy, at the very least 23 civilians have been killed in these assaults.
In one of many monastery assaults, six individuals have been reportedly killed and 20 others injured. Bellingcat geolocated the aftermath of the reported strike. This was in Kan Ni village in Kawkareik Township in Kayin, one of many southernmost states of the nation.
Regardless of Widespread Violations, Junta Extends Ceasefire
The Myanmar navy has now prolonged the ceasefire to April 30 in a transfer to “expedite reduction and rebuilding efforts”, however reviews say that support is being restricted. “The SAC is weaponising humanitarian help,” Surachanee Sriyai, interim director on the Heart for Sustainable Humanitarian Motion to Displaced Ethnic Communities, advised Bellingcat, explaining that support is just not reaching areas that aren’t underneath the SAC’s management. An evaluation by the BBC in November final 12 months reported that the navy solely has full management of 21% of Myanmar’s territory.
Sriyai famous that whereas the earthquake has drawn some consideration to Myanmar, the nation has already been in important want of support because of the extended armed battle. In the meantime, bombings persist even in the course of the prolonged ceasefire interval.
Members of Bellingcat’s International Authentication Mission, together with Afton Knox, Nicole Kiess, Stéphanie Ladel, and Max F. Wan contributed analysis to this piece.
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