Rubble and ashes are practically all that left of the wood and brick dwellings most people had built for themselves in the tranquil riverbank village of Bin in central Myanmar’s Buddhist heartland, which is dominated by a single golden pagoda.
According to media reports compiled by activist group Data For Myanmar, more than 100 villages have been partially or totally torched by Myanmar’s military since the beginning of this year, with more than 5,500 civilian buildings razed as troops strive to quash dissent to last year’s coup.
Dozens of satellite pictures provided by the United States earth-imaging business Planet Labs and the United States space agency NASA, indicate widespread torching of towns in the country’s central region. The photographs, which mainly corroborate local media stories, are among the most compelling proof to far that the military is employing widespread arson to intensify its attack on resistance in the central Sagaing region, where villagers have told Reuters that the junta is facing armed opposition.
‘It’s a terror campaign,’ Tom Andrews, the UN special envoy for Myanmar’s human rights, told Reuters. ‘If you live in an area or hamlet that they (the junta) believe is especially supportive of those who have taken up guns, you are the enemy in their eyes.’
Andrews, who is based in the United States, told Reuters that he has spoken on the phone with multiple witnesses and other persons on the ground who have provided him with information. He claimed that these sources told him that the military had increased attacks in Sagaing in recent months, with soldiers leading ground assaults and fighter jets launching air strikes.
The military junta, which deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government on February 1, 2021, has declared any dissent to it unlawful and claims to be working to restore order in the country. Myanmar’s military did not respond to this story’s requests for comment. The junta has accused opposition forces of destroying villages in recent months without giving evidence.
According to records compiled by Data For Myanmar and obtained by Reuters, the military and pro-military groups have been setting fire to communities in central Myanmar practically every day since December. Almost all of the major fires have been confirmed by NASA satellite photographs, which are publicly available.
Residents told Reuters that military raids and arson had resulted in large-scale displacements. According to the United Nations, more than 52,000 people evacuated their homes in the last week of February alone.
The latest burnings are the first instance of such a tactic in the historically calm, predominantly Buddhist central heartland. The region has seen heavy fighting between junta troops and organisations affiliated with the People’s Defence Force (PDF), the armed branch of the National Unity Government (NUG), which was deposed in the coup. The junta has proclaimed the NUG and PDF to be unlawful and terrorist organisations.
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