Junta airstrikes on civilian and resistance targets in Kayah State have risen sharply over the past six months, doubling the combined total in 2021 and 2022, according to the Progressive Karenni People Force (PKPF), which monitors regime atrocities in the state.
THE PKPF’s report on Tuesday recorded a total of 572 airstrikes on civilian targets and battlegrounds in the resistance stronghold of Kayah State, as junta forces increasingly rely on aerial assaults amid heavy losses for their ground troops.
However, the first half of 2023 saw twice as many regime airstrikes than in 2021 and 2022 combined. This period accounted for 68 percent of the total number of airstrikes conducted by the junta in the two and a half years since the coup.
Meanwhile, at least 766 clashes have erupted between regime forces and allied resistance groups in Kayah State since the military takeover, the Karenni rights group said.
The death toll among junta troops in Kayah is estimated at 2,230 – seven times larger than casualties suffered by resistance forces.
Around 310 resistance fighters have been killed fighting the junta in Kayah State, according to the PKPF.
Resistance groups had also destroyed 64 junta vehicles and seized a large quantity weapons and ammunition during the battles.
Meanwhile, junta forces have killed around 516 civilians and detained 196 since the coup, the group reported on Tuesday.
Junta shelling and bombing raids targeting civilians had also destroyed at least 1,639 houses and 39 religious buildings.
On June 6, resistance forces established the Karenni State Interim Executive Council (IEC) as an interim government body, while junta administration only functions in the state capital of Loikaw, according to local sources.
Meanwhile, fighting has escalated in Hpaswang and Mese townships after the regime sent heavy reinforcements to Kayah State last month.
The United Nations estimates that at least 98,400 people were displaced in the state as of July 17. However, local aid groups on the ground report that more than 270,000 people have been displaced in Kayah State and neighbouring Pekon township of Southern Shan State.
Aid groups said around 100,000 people are in urgent need of food supplies and healthcare assistance.
