Since the 2021 coup, the Burma military has lost substantial territory to the Karen National Union (KNU) and increasingly relies on airstrikes and artillery to compensate for weakened ground control. These attacks have repeatedly hit civilian areas, including homes, schools, religious sites, and IDP camps.
Between October 2025 and March 2026, the military conducted 1,461 aerial, artillery, and ground assaults across Kawthoolei, resulting in 135 civilian deaths, 270 injuries, and damage to around 600 buildings. The assaults involved airstrikes, artillery shelling, drones paramotors and gyrocopters. This pattern suggests deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, aimed at maximizing harm and undermining community cohesion.
The most heavily affected areas are Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin), Mergui-Tavoy (Tanintharyi), and Mutraw (Hpapun), all key KNU strongholds along or close to the Thailand border. Among them, Kler Lwee Htoo experienced the greatest damage, with 237 buildings destroyed or damaged.
These areas are strategically significant due to their role in cross-border supply routes and their connection to major development projects planned by the Burma military.
Escalated air and artillery attacks by the Burma military have failed to halt the KNLA’s military expansion. These assaults have caused significant civilian casualties and driven displacement in Kawthoolei to well over two million people, creating an urgent need for funding to address severe food shortages among IDPs.
KPSN calls for increased international pressure on the Burmese military to halt attacks on civilians, alongside an arms embargo, aviation fuel sanctions, and expanded cross-border humanitarian aid.