Myanmar’s military has intensified its aerial campaign over Rakhine and Chin states, killing at least 53 civilians and injuring 163 others in July and August as airstrikes increasingly hit towns and communities under Arakan Army control.
The military carried out 27 air raids during the two-month period, with civilians accounting for the overwhelming toll. July recorded 15 deaths and 87 injuries, while August saw the number of fatalities rise sharply to 38, with another 76 people wounded, according to figures compiled by The Irrawaddy.
The attacks have struck a wide area of Rakhine, including Thandwe, Rathedaung, Kyauktaw, Gwa, Kyeintali, Ponnagyun, Mrauk-U, Ann and Taungup, as well as Paletwa in neighboring Chin State. Thandwe, home to the internationally known Ngapali Beach, has been repeatedly bombed, forcing residents to abandon their homes.
The growing use of airpower has turned civilian areas into some of the most dangerous places in the conflict. Infants, schoolchildren, monks, women and elderly people have reportedly been among those killed or wounded.
Local residents say the attacks are not simply battlefield operations but part of a broader campaign of intimidation and collective punishment against communities living under AA control. A resident of Gwa described the bombing of civilian neighborhoods as cruelty far beyond the limits of conventional warfare.
The latest figures follow a broader pattern of civilian deaths across Rakhine. The AA’s Humanitarian and Development Cooperation Office reported that 83 civilians were killed and 187 injured in military attacks during the first six months of 2026.
Critics say the junta’s expanding reliance on airstrikes also exposes the weakness of its ground forces. Rather than regaining territory through conventional operations, the military has increasingly relied on airpower to punish communities and raise the cost of AA advances.
The escalation comes despite the military’s repeated calls for peace talks. AA spokesman Khaing Thukha has dismissed those calls as insincere, arguing that genuine negotiations cannot take place while the military continues attacks on civilians.
Fighting remains intense around Kyaukphyu, including near the Taung Maw Oo naval base, while AA forces have tightened pressure around Sittwe, the Rakhine capital and one of the few major areas still held by the military.
As the AA expands its territorial reach and the junta struggles on multiple fronts, the civilian population is increasingly paying the price. The growing death toll suggests that Myanmar’s air war is becoming not only a tool of military pressure, but a devastating threat to the communities caught between the two sides.
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