Arakan records most junta airstrikes as 214 civilians killed across Myanmar: BNI

By Admin 26 Oct 2026

DMG Newsroom

26 October 2026, Yangon

Arakan recorded the highest number of Myanmar military junta airstrikes nationwide during a four-week period, while 214 civilians were killed in conflict-related violence across the country, according to a report by Burma News International (BNI).

The BNI–Myanmar Peace Monitor (MPM) report, covering September 10 to October 7, documented 93 junta airstrike incidents nationwide, including 35 in Arakan, accounting for nearly 38 percent of the total.

The figures highlight the scale of aerial attacks in western Myanmar, where fighting between the military junta and the Arakan Army (AA) continues to affect civilian communities.

Arakan also recorded the highest number of armed conflict incidents, with 12 of the 51 incidents documented nationwide during the reporting period.

According to BNI, armed conflict incidents nationwide declined from 63 in the previous four-week period to 51, while junta airstrike incidents nearly doubled from 48 to 93.

The report identified a junta airstrike on the Indian Market in AA-controlled Kyauktaw, Arakan State, as the single incident causing the highest number of civilian casualties during the reporting period.

However, BNI did not specify the number of people killed or injured in that particular attack.

Nationwide, the report documented 358 conflict-related deaths, including 214 civilians, 134 junta personnel and 10 members of People's Defence Forces (PDFs).

Arakan recorded 81 civilian deaths, the highest number among the states and regions covered by the report.

Civilian fatalities nationwide increased from 144 in the previous reporting period to 214, despite a decline in recorded armed clashes.

The report also estimated that approximately 11,000 people were newly displaced nationwide as a result of armed clashes, artillery shelling and arson attacks on civilian homes attributed to junta forces.

Western Bago Region recorded the largest number of newly displaced people, approximately 8,000, followed by Magway Region with 2,000 and Arakan with 1,000.

BNI reported that the cumulative number of internally displaced people in Myanmar since the February 2021 military coup had reached 4,704,026 as of October 7.

The findings underscore the humanitarian consequences of continuing military operations, particularly in Arakan, where aerial attacks and displacement remain major concerns for civilian populations.

BNI said its conflict data were compiled from verified reports by local and international news organisations, including its network of 15 independent ethnic media outlets.

The organisation cautioned that actual numbers of armed clashes, airstrikes and displaced people could be higher because of reporting limitations.

Under its methodology, BNI records armed conflict events as one event per day per township, meaning multiple clashes in the same township on a single day may not be counted separately.

DMG could not independently verify all the incidents and casualty figures documented in the report.