Almost 75,000 homes have been incinerated in six regions and seven states of Myanmar by junta forces and affiliated militias since the February 2021 coup, according to Data for Myanmar.
“As of 31 July 2023, Myanmar’s military and its affiliated groups burned down approximately 74,874 civilian houses,” the independent organization reported on Tuesday.
In June and July of this year more than 4,250 homes were incinerated, it said.
Junta forces have been using arson attacks to deter and retaliate against those who oppose military rule, with their frequency highest in resistance strongholds.
Arson attacks accelerated rapidly in the second year after the coup, according to figures provided by Data for Myanmar. Junta forces torched at least 2,111 homes in 2021 and 46,905 in 2022, the group said. As of the end of July 2023, they have torched 25,858 homes so far this year, according to Data for Myanmar.
Sagaing Region has been hardest hit. Rural and urban areas of the region accounted for 77% of all homes torched since the coup.
Magwe Region and Chin State followed.
In terms of entire villages being incinerated, about 15 percent were in Magwe Region and three percent were in Chin State, Data for Myanmar said.
Seven percent of the homes torched by junta forces and affiliated militias were in Bago, Mandalay,Tanintharyi and Yangon regions, and in Kachin, Kayah, Mon, Shan and Rakhine states.
