UN says 170 killed by airstrikes during Myanmar elections

ISTANBUL

At least 170 civilians were killed in more than 400 aerial attacks during Myanmar’s election period, The United Nations said Friday.

“Credible sources verified that 170 civilians were killed in some 408 military aerial attacks reported by open sources during the voting period – between December 2025 and January 2026,” the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a statement.

Myanmar’s elections were held in three phases between Dec. 28 and Jan. 25.

In Kachin state’s Bhamo township, a military airstrike on Jan. 22 killed up to 50 civilians, while “armed groups opposed to the military also reportedly attacked some election sites and election officials,” the statement read.

Earlier this month, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Htun, head of the junta’s information team, said a new parliament would convene in March following the completion of the elections, with a new government expected to take office in April.

The elections, conducted largely in areas under military control, excluded large segments of the population, “especially the displaced and minorities, such as the ethnic Rohingya, were excluded,” according to the UN.

The statement added that 324 men and 80 women were arrested under Myanmar’s so-called “election protection law,” including one case in which a 49-year sentence was handed down for posting anti-election materials. Reports of voter coercion were also recorded nationwide.

Myanmar’s previous elected government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, was ousted in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup, plunging the country into more than four years of emergency rule.

“The military is seeking to entrench its rule-by-violence after forcing people to the ballot box. This couldn’t be further from civilian rule,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.

He urged the international community, particularly “states with influence, to intensify efforts to end the violence.”

In a separate statement, Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, called for an end to the impunity of “serious international crimes committed since the military takeover.”

“There are currently no judicial proceedings for any serious international crimes committed since the military takeover,” Koumjian said.

“We believe that impunity for crimes emboldens perpetrators to commit more violence, and ending this impunity is necessary for Myanmar to build a peaceful future for all its people.”

Since the coup, protests have been suppressed, perceived opponents imprisoned, and many people subjected to torture, sexual violence, and other abuses, as well as “indiscriminate air strikes, artillery and drone attacks,” Koumjian said.

He added that “while most of the evidence the Mechanism has collected concerns crimes committed by the Myanmar military, we are also investigating disturbing reports of atrocities committed by other armed groups.”