More than 6,000 civilians have been killed in Burma in the 20 months since the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup, according to a report released Tuesday by the Oslo Peace Research Institute.
“Our data shows that the number of casualties in the conflict is higher than previously reported, and that while the junta is clearly the main culprit, anti-junta forces also have a lot of blood on their hands,” he said in one of the studies Co-authors Stein Tønnesson in a statement.
The report puts the number of civilians killed “for political reasons” between February 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022 at 6,337 and the number of wounded over the same period at 2,614.
This assessment is significantly higher than the assessments that are often sometimes circulating, including in international institutions.
Also according to this report, almost half of the casualties (3,003) are attributable to the regime – army, police and militias, 2,152 to armed opponent groups, 12 to other civilians unaffiliated with the regime or opponents, and 1,170 to unidentified actors .
“This is a higher number than commonly reported in the media, and yet it is only an estimate based on the deaths reported in reliable media,” the co-authors emphasize, fearing an even higher number.
The Burmese army canceled parliamentary elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party and toppled her government, accused of massive fraud.
Since then, the junta has conducted a full-scale crackdown on all dissenting voices, arresting more than 23,000 people, according to a local surveillance group.