At least 170 civilians were killed in more than 400 military air strikes carried out by Myanmar’s junta during a two-month voting period, the United Nations said, warning the actual toll could be higher.
At least 170 civilians were killed in more than 400 military air strikes in Myanmar during its recent two-month election period, the United Nations said on Friday, highlighting deepening violence amid a widely criticised vote under junta rule.
The UN rights office said “credible sources” had verified that 170 civilians lost their lives in some 408 military aerial attacks reported by open sources during the voting period between December 2025 and January 2026,” and cautioned that the actual figure was likely higher due to communication blackouts and fear among witnesses.
James Rodehaver, head of the UN rights office’s Myanmar team, speaking from Bangkok to reporters in Geneva, said verification covered the period from the start of the election campaign through the three phases of voting. “Because of the way communications are cut off and because of, frankly, the fear of individuals in some of these locations to speak to us, it sometimes takes a lot longer to get that information,” he said.
The brutal tally of civilian deaths comes as Myanmar holds elections that were widely dismissed by democracy watchdogs as a rebranding of military rule, five years after the 2021 coup ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government. Critics argue the vote lacked legitimacy, pointing to the exclusion of opposition candidates, repression, and widespread insecurity across the country.
UN rights chief Volker Türk said the “profound and widespread despair inflicted on the people of Myanmar” since the coup ”has only deepened with the recent election staged by the military.” He noted that many citizens voted, or chose not to vote, out of fear, a situation he said was starkly at odds with their internationally guaranteed civil and political rights.
The rights office also highlighted that the election was held in just 263 of 330 townships and mostly in urban centres under military control, leaving conflict areas and large segments of the population especially displaced groups and minorities such as the Rohingya effectively excluded from the process.
Five years of military rule, the UN said, have been marked by repression of dissent, mass arbitrary arrests, forced conscription, extensive surveillance, and shrinking civic space, with the latest election appearing to entrench military dominance rather than restore civilian governance.
The UN’s report adds to growing international concern over Myanmar’s post-coup trajectory, which has seen sustained conflict, widespread displacement, and mounting civilian casualties as the country grapples with internal strife and a deepening humanitarian crisis.
With inputs from agencies
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