No One Feels Safe
“No one Feels Safe”
Airstrikes Perpetrated in Burma from July to October 2025
This briefing paper by the Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) examines the impact of airstrikes on innocent civilians from July to October 2025 in areas documented by ND-Burma members and through desk research. Since the attempted coup in 2021, the military junta has escalated its targeting of civilians through a violent and coordinated campaign of airstrikes. The increase in air attacks coincides with the Burmese Army’s growing loss of ground and territory to the armed opposition.
The military carries out airstrikes during hours when civilians are not expecting an attack, late at night and early morning, giving little warning or time to escape. The regime has fired upon communities far from the battlezones, including the assault on displaced people in shelters, displacement camps, homes, villages, schools, places of worship, and clinics. Survivors report feelings of anxiety, trauma, and suffering caused by the unpredictable and indiscriminate nature of these attacks.
Additionally, the junta has destroyed entire livelihoods, with villages being devastated from above. Grounded military forces frequently loot remaining goods and essentials. The suffering and hardship faced by civilians have worsened due to the international community’s lack of coordinated and urgent action. Despite overwhelming evidence of the junta’s war crimes, the military remains shielded and has not faced any accountability for its ongoing crimes. For decades, they have committed violence against ethnic minority groups, mainly living in Burma’s border regions. Over the last four and a half years, the circumstances on the ground have worsened, turning daily life for rural villagers into a struggle to survive.
The human rights situation in Burma is rapidly deteriorating. Since the attempted coup on 1 February 2021 until August 2025, the UN Human Rights Office announced that more than 7,000 people have been killed by the junta, of which a third are women and children.1 Nearly 30,000 have been arrested as due process continues to be routinely denied in the military-run courts. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a member of ND-Burma, reported that from the coup until September 30, 2025, there were 3,023 civilian deaths confirmed due to airstrikes and heavy weaponry attacks.2 AAPP noted that an additional 2,690 deaths were still awaiting confirmation. The victims included 1,370 women and 1,653 men, as well as 647 children under the age of 18
