The Irrawaddy More than 100,000 people have been killed in Myanmar since the military seized power in February 2021, according to new figures from conflict monitor ACLED. The staggering toll underscores the scale of Asia’s deadliest ongoing war, five years after the coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government. The generals’ takeover sparked mass protests that were brutally suppressed. Many activists fled the cities, joining forces with long‑standing ethnic minority armies to wage guerrilla war against the junta. What began as resistance has evolved into a nationwide conflict, with more than 1,200 armed groups now active. ACLED’s latest data records 100,114 conflict‑related deaths, though no official tally exists. Analysts say the fighting has engulfed the entire country, from sporadic assassinations in Yangon to daily air strikes in rural states. “The pain is just endless,” said one widow in Rakhine, whose husband was killed in a recent raid. The human cost extends far beyond the battlefield. The UN estimates 3.7 million people are displaced, while one in five citizens faces acute food insecurity. Myanmar’s economy has collapsed, and its borderlands have become hubs for drug production and online scam centres, fuelling transnational crime. The military, led until recently by Min Aung Hlaing, has tried to consolidate power through tightly controlled elections and forced conscription of 50,000 young men. Many recruits, however, desert, describing themselves as “sent to die”. Rebels, meanwhile, have made gains, at one point threatening Mandalay, before Chinese‑brokered truces shifted momentum back towards the army. Internationally, Myanmar’s war has spilled into neighbouring Thailand and Bangladesh, where refugee camps are swelling. Rights groups warn that the junta’s attempts to rebrand its rule as civilian are little more than a façade, while peace talks remain stalled. For ordinary families, the conflict has shattered daily life. Parents speak of children abandoning school to fight, funerals interrupted by shelling, and communities living under constant fear. As one father in Magway put it: “If there was no coup, children would be studying at schools.” Five years on, Myanmar’s civil war shows no sign of abating. With violence entrenched, humanitarian needs soaring and trust in political solutions absent, the country remains trapped in a cycle of bloodshed that has already claimed more than 100,000 lives. -2026-07-02
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