Published : 26 Aug 2026, 10:40 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:36 AM
At least five people, including two children, have been killed in an airstrike by Myanmar’s military on a village in western Chin State, according to local authorities.
The attack came as a new UN report warned that the country’s human rights situation had “plummeted to a new low”, The Independent reports.
The strike on Sein Nyin Wa village in Paletwa township on Monday hit a monastery housing a primary school, injuring at least 17 people, including nine children, according to the Democratic Voice of Burma, citing local authorities.
Seven of the injured were reported to be in critical condition.
Paletwa, near the border with India and about 460km south of the Chin State capital Hakha, was seized by the Arakan Army in January 2024.
The ethnic armed group is fighting Myanmar’s military and has itself faced allegations of human rights abuses.
Images from the scene showed books and school materials scattered among the damaged remains of the building.
Myanmar’s military did not comment on the latest strike. It has previously said its air operations are limited to military targets and carried out in response to attacks and territorial seizures by armed groups it describes as “terrorists”.
UN Warns of Deepening Crisis
The attack came as the UN Human Rights Office released a report covering the period from June 2025 to May 2026, warning that the military’s “persistent quest for control and legitimacy” had deepened civilian suffering.
The report said continuing conflict, military violence and a growing “conflict economy” were exposing civilians to severe hardship.
It accused both Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army, which controls much of Rakhine State, of widespread and systematic abuses against Rohingya communities, including killings, torture, forced recruitment, forced labour, arbitrary detention and displacement.
Neither side responded to Reuters requests for comment.
Nine years after the 2017 exodus that forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee Myanmar, and following further abuses since the 2021 military coup, the community continues to face systematic discrimination, the UN said.
The military has continued to rely on airstrikes, arson and restrictions on aid to maintain control, according to the report.
The UN said at least 8,075 civilians have been killed since the 2021 coup, including 1,774 women and 1,074 children, though it believes the true toll is likely higher.
Internal displacement has risen to 3.6 million people, while 12.4 million face acute hunger and around 400,000 mothers and children are suffering from acute malnutrition, the report said.
Abuses in Rakhine
In northern Rakhine, the UN accused the Arakan Army of arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual violence, forced labour and land seizures targeting Rohingya communities.
It also accused the group of preventing displaced Rohingya from returning to their homes while resettling non-Rohingya families on seized land.
Satellite imagery cited by the UN showed around 2,000 acres of land had been taken, while witnesses reported children being used for labour and former detainees described abuse and deaths in custody.
Illegal Mining Fuels Conflict
The report also highlighted the rapid expansion of illegal rare-earth mining in Kachin and Shan states, where weakened rule of law has allowed illicit industries to grow and help finance the conflict.
Satellite imagery showed 302 new mining sites in Kachin since 2021, while the number of sites in Shan State rose from 12 before the coup to 85 afterwards.
The UN said rare-earth trade flows peaked at an estimated $1.4 billion in 2023, largely supplying China’s market.
It warned that toxic runoff from mining had polluted waterways and farmland and posed serious health risks, with contamination also reaching rivers flowing into Thailand.
