Myanmar’s military intensified aerial attacks on civilians before the country’s controversial election and has continued the campaign afterward, according to a new United Nations investigation that documents how low-cost aircraft are changing the character of one of Asia’s longest-running armed conflicts.
The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar said its latest annual investigation found a pattern of deliberate aerial attacks on civilian locations alongside arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence. The Mechanism examined attacks on homes, schools, medical facilities, religious buildings and camps housing internally displaced people, while also identifying some of the military units believed to be responsible.
The investigation covers the period from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 and draws on evidence from more than 1,600 sources, including more than 750 witness accounts as well as photographs, videos, documents, maps, geospatial imagery, social-media material and forensic evidence. The investigators said attacks accelerated ahead of the military-managed elections conducted between December 2025 and January 2026 and continued after the vote concluded.
One of the most striking developments is the military’s increasing use of motorised paragliders known as paramotors, along with gyrocopters and drones. These relatively inexpensive aircraft can operate at low altitude and deploy unguided explosives, potentially giving military forces another way to attack areas where conventional aircraft may be more expensive or vulnerable. United Nations investigators documented incidents in upper Sagaing where paramotor pilots allegedly switched off their engines while approaching targets, allowing the aircraft to glide more quietly and reducing the warning available to civilians.
The findings arrive while President Min Aung Hlaing is trying to present Myanmar as moving beyond the military-rule period that began with the February 2021 coup. He became president in April after a parliamentary vote following elections won overwhelmingly by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. Critics, Western governments and rights organisations have argued that the electoral process lacked meaningful opposition and served primarily to institutionalise military power under a civilian political structure.
How is Myanmar’s military using cheap paramotors and gyrocopters to expand its air war?
Myanmar’s reliance on paramotors and gyrocopters matters because these aircraft solve several problems for an armed force fighting dispersed resistance organisations across large areas of the country.
Paramotors are essentially motorised paragliding systems. They are dramatically cheaper and simpler than conventional military aircraft, can operate from relatively basic locations and can fly at low altitude. Gyrocopters similarly provide a low-cost aviation platform capable of carrying personnel and munitions without requiring the infrastructure associated with fighter jets or larger helicopters.
The United Nations investigation found that Myanmar’s military increasingly uses paramotors, gyrocopters and drones to conduct low-altitude attacks with unguided explosives. Investigators said the growing reliance on such aircraft has made some strikes more difficult for communities to detect before weapons are released.
The tactic is particularly important in regions such as Sagaing, where resistance organisations have maintained significant territorial and operational presence. Conventional military aircraft can still deliver much heavier weapons, but lighter platforms may allow forces to sustain a higher frequency of attacks at lower cost.
Human-rights organisation Fortify Rights had already warned in January that attacks using commercial paramotors and gyrocopters were spreading across Sagaing, Magway, Mandalay, Ayeyarwady and Bago. The new United Nations findings give the issue additional weight because international investigators are now incorporating evidence of these aircraft into a broader investigation of potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The operational significance goes beyond cost. A loud conventional aircraft may give residents enough warning to reach shelters or flee an exposed area, while a low-flying aircraft approaching more quietly can compress that reaction time dramatically.
What are the alleged double-tap attacks and why are United Nations investigators focusing on them?
The Mechanism said civilian casualties have been worsened by what investigators describe as double-tap aerial attacks. Under this tactic, a second strike follows the initial explosion after rescuers, relatives or other civilians arrive to help people who were wounded.
That pattern can transform emergency response itself into a source of danger. Civilians confronting an explosion must decide whether helping injured neighbours could expose them to another attack, while medical and rescue personnel may have to delay entering an area that remains potentially targeted.
International humanitarian law gives particular importance to the distinction between military objectives and civilians. Deliberately targeting civilians or people who are hors de combat can constitute serious international crimes, while attacks on medical personnel and protected civilian infrastructure can trigger additional legal scrutiny depending on the circumstances.
The IIMM has not merely documented individual allegations. Its annual report says investigators are examining a broader pattern of attacks and have identified some military units believed to be responsible. The Mechanism’s mandate is to preserve and analyse evidence that can eventually be used in national, regional or international criminal proceedings rather than itself functioning as a criminal court.
The military-backed government had not issued an immediate response to the latest report. Myanmar’s armed forces have previously maintained that their operations target legitimate military objectives and have described resistance organisations as terrorists.
Which civilian locations does the United Nations investigation say were attacked in Myanmar?
The scope described by investigators is extensive. The Mechanism said its evidence covers aerial attacks on homes, schools, medical facilities, religious buildings and camps for internally displaced people.
Those categories are particularly consequential because Myanmar’s conflict has already displaced millions of people, leaving large populations dependent on temporary settlements, local clinics and humanitarian networks. Repeated attacks can therefore damage not only individual structures but the limited infrastructure communities use to survive after being displaced from their original homes.
The investigation suggests aerial warfare is no longer confined to sophisticated combat aircraft striking major battlefield positions. Low-cost aviation is creating a wider threat environment in which relatively small aircraft may carry explosives into communities that previously had some chance of identifying larger military aircraft before an attack.
Schools have become an especially sensitive issue. Children living in conflict zones face disrupted education even when school buildings remain intact because parents may consider gathering large groups of students unsafe. Medical facilities face a similar problem because repeated attacks can push doctors and health workers away from contested regions.
The Mechanism has previously investigated attacks affecting children and health facilities, meaning the new annual findings represent part of an accumulating evidence base rather than an isolated report released in response to one incident.
Why did air attacks intensify around Myanmar’s December and January elections?
United Nations investigators said aerial attacks and other abuses escalated in the months leading to elections conducted between December 2025 and January 2026 and continued after voting finished.
The elections represented the military establishment’s attempt to replace the emergency governing structure created after the 2021 coup with institutions carrying electoral legitimacy. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won overwhelmingly, while major opponents were absent, dissolved or unable to participate across significant areas affected by armed conflict.
Voting took place in three phases and could not be conducted in 67 of Myanmar’s 330 townships, many of them areas where resistance organisations exercised significant influence. Final figures gave the military-backed party a dominant position in parliament, alongside seats constitutionally reserved for the armed forces.
Min Aung Hlaing subsequently stepped down as military chief to pursue the presidency and was elected by parliament on April 3 before being sworn in later that month. The formal transition allowed his government to claim that Myanmar had returned to elected constitutional administration, although critics argued that military influence remained entrenched.
The United Nations findings complicate that legitimacy campaign because investigators say serious abuses intensified during precisely the period in which authorities were asking voters and foreign governments to treat the political process as a return to normal governance.
How were Myanmar residents punished for criticising the election?
The Mechanism also examined a 2025 election law that criminalised certain forms of criticism and opposition to the vote.
According to the United Nations investigation, numerous people were arrested under legislation carrying penalties of up to 20 years in prison or the death penalty for activities that could include posting criticism of the election on social media. Investigators documented arbitrary detention and are examining allegations of torture and sexual violence in military-run detention facilities.
The breadth of those allegations matters because suppression of political speech and battlefield violence are often treated as separate aspects of Myanmar’s crisis. The new report instead presents them as overlapping components of a wider system in which military operations, detention practices and restrictions surrounding the election developed simultaneously.
Independent monitoring organisation Assistance Association for Political Prisoners estimates that more than 8,000 civilians have been killed and more than 31,000 people arrested by security forces since the 2021 military takeover. Those figures are produced by an independent monitoring organisation rather than Myanmar’s government, but they illustrate the scale of the continuing detention and casualty crisis.
The government disputes many allegations made by international rights organisations and has repeatedly described resistance activity as terrorism threatening national stability.
What do the latest Rakhine attacks reveal about the continuing civilian threat?
The United Nations report coincided with fresh allegations from the Arakan Army, one of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed organisations, that military airstrikes killed around 20 civilians and injured 22 others across three Rakhine townships between August 1 and August 11.
One reported attack involved as many as eight aircraft operating for around an hour. Myanmar’s government had not publicly responded to those specific accusations when they were reported.
Rakhine carries particular international significance because it was the centre of Myanmar’s 2016 and 2017 military operations against the Rohingya Muslim minority. Those events triggered mass displacement into neighbouring Bangladesh and are now the subject of international legal proceedings.
The International Court of Justice is considering The Gambia’s case alleging that Myanmar violated obligations under the Genocide Convention during the Rohingya operations. The IIMM says it has supplied extensive evidence and analysis to parties involved in those proceedings.
The International Criminal Court and national authorities in Argentina are also pursuing accountability processes involving crimes against the Rohingya, and the Mechanism says it continues sharing relevant evidence with investigators and prosecutors.
Is the United Nations investigating alleged crimes committed by Myanmar’s anti-military forces too?
Yes, and this is an important part of the latest report.
The overwhelming majority of evidence collected by the Mechanism concerns Myanmar’s security forces and affiliated militias, but investigators are also examining serious allegations involving groups fighting against the military.
AP reported that allegations being examined include rape and other sexual violence against Rohingya women, summary executions, recruitment of children and destruction of mosques by members or forces associated with armed opposition groups including the Arakan Army.
That wider investigative mandate matters for the credibility of any eventual justice process. Myanmar’s post-2021 conflict involves a complicated network of resistance organisations, ethnic armed groups, local militias and military-aligned forces rather than two clearly separated conventional armies.
International humanitarian law applies to all parties to armed conflict. A group fighting an authoritarian military does not receive immunity for crimes against civilians, just as government claims of counterterrorism do not remove the military’s obligation to distinguish civilian targets from legitimate military objectives.
The Mechanism’s approach is therefore centred on alleged conduct rather than political alignment, although the quantity of evidence currently collected is heavily concentrated on abuses linked to security forces.
Can evidence collected by the IIMM actually lead to prosecutions of Myanmar commanders?
The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar does not itself prosecute people. Its purpose is to collect, preserve, analyse and organise evidence that prosecutors and courts can use if suitable jurisdictions become available.
That distinction can make the process appear frustratingly slow, but evidence preservation is particularly important in conflicts where suspects may remain in power for years. Witnesses disappear, digital evidence can be deleted, buildings are destroyed and documents become increasingly difficult to authenticate as time passes.
The Mechanism says its current investigations draw on more than 1,600 sources, including more than 750 witness accounts together with video, photographs, audio, documents, geospatial imagery and forensic evidence. It has also identified some military units responsible for attacks, potentially helping future prosecutors move from proving that a crime occurred towards establishing which commanders or personnel may bear responsibility.
Evidence has already been supplied to proceedings involving the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and authorities pursuing cases under national jurisdiction. The long-term question is whether investigators will eventually gain access to defendants who are currently protected by Myanmar’s political and military structures.
International accountability for senior officials can take many years. The practical importance of the 2026 report is therefore not that prosecutions are imminent, but that evidence is being assembled while many witnesses, records and digital traces remain available.
Why could Myanmar’s cheap-aircraft strategy reshape conflicts beyond Southeast Asia?
The technological lesson from Myanmar is uncomfortable because the aircraft involved are not advanced weapons available only to wealthy militaries.
Commercial paramotors and gyrocopters are relatively inexpensive platforms that can be adapted for wartime use without the enormous capital expenditure required for fighter aircraft or attack helicopters. Drones have already demonstrated globally how commercially derived technologies can reshape surveillance and strike operations.
Myanmar adds another layer to that trend. A force under sanctions or facing constrained access to advanced military equipment may still expand its capacity for aerial attacks by combining commercially available aviation platforms with improvised munitions.
The defensive challenge is equally difficult. Traditional air-defence systems are optimised for aircraft and missiles with clearer radar signatures and higher speeds. Small aircraft flying slowly at low altitude can be difficult to detect consistently, particularly in rural areas where comprehensive radar coverage is unrealistic.
For civilians, this means the traditional warning cues associated with air attacks may become less reliable. Conflict zones could increasingly face a spectrum of threats ranging from advanced jets and missiles to cheap drones and improvised manned aircraft, forcing humanitarian organisations and communities to rethink shelter, warning and surveillance systems.
What are the key takeaways from the United Nations investigation into Myanmar’s escalating air war?
- The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar said on August 11 that its investigations found a pattern of deliberate military aerial attacks against civilian locations, including homes, schools, medical facilities, religious buildings and camps for displaced people.
- The report covers July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 and says attacks escalated ahead of Myanmar’s December 2025-January 2026 elections before continuing afterward, challenging the government’s effort to portray the election as a transition towards political normality.
- Myanmar’s military is increasingly using paramotors, gyrocopters and drones for low-altitude attacks with unguided explosives, with investigators documenting incidents in which paramotor pilots allegedly cut their engines during approach to reduce warning for civilians.
- Investigators also documented alleged double-tap attacks in which a second strike follows an initial explosion, potentially placing rescuers, first responders and civilians helping wounded people at additional risk.
- The IIMM says it has gathered evidence from more than 1,600 sources, including more than 750 witness accounts, and has identified some military units believed to be responsible for attacks.
- The investigation extends beyond airstrikes to alleged arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence, including cases linked to legislation imposing severe penalties on people accused of criticising the military-managed election.
- The Mechanism is also investigating allegations against armed opposition groups, including reported sexual violence, summary executions, child recruitment and destruction of religious buildings, demonstrating that its mandate is not limited to crimes attributed to government forces.
- Evidence gathered by investigators is already being shared with accountability processes involving the International Criminal Court, national authorities and the International Court of Justice case concerning Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya.
Why Myanmar’s low-cost air war could make civilian protection much harder even if peace talks advance
Myanmar’s conflict is entering a particularly complicated phase because diplomacy and violence are moving in opposite directions. Regional governments have recently explored whether the military-backed administration and armed opposition organisations could begin serious political discussions, while Min Aung Hlaing has travelled abroad seeking greater recognition for the government created after the disputed election. Reuters reported earlier this month that conditions may be developing for preliminary talks, even though a full peace process remains distant.
The new United Nations findings show why political engagement alone cannot be treated as evidence that the war is de-escalating. Investigators say aerial attacks accelerated during the electoral transition and continued afterward, while the increasing use of inexpensive paramotors, gyrocopters and drones gives the military additional ways to sustain air operations without depending entirely on conventional aircraft.
That development could have lasting consequences even if negotiations eventually begin. Cheap aerial systems lower the economic threshold for continuing localised attacks, while their low-altitude operating characteristics make civilian warning and protection more difficult. An armed force does not need complete control of the sky if it can repeatedly deploy smaller aircraft against communities with almost no air-defence capability.
The accountability question is consequently becoming more important at the same time. The IIMM has accumulated evidence from more than 1,600 sources and says it has already identified some units linked to attacks. Preserving that evidence increases the possibility that commanders or individual perpetrators could eventually face proceedings even if current political conditions make immediate prosecutions unlikely.
Myanmar’s government argues that its forces are fighting terrorist organisations and attacking legitimate military targets, while the United Nations investigation describes a pattern of deliberate attacks on civilians and protected facilities. Resolving those competing claims ultimately requires evidence capable of surviving judicial scrutiny rather than political accusation alone, which is precisely why the Mechanism’s expanding archive matters.
The August 11 report therefore carries significance beyond another catalogue of atrocities from a conflict now entering its sixth year. It documents how warfare itself is evolving inside Myanmar, with inexpensive aircraft expanding the reach of aerial violence at the same time that the government seeks international recognition and regional actors discuss diplomacy. Whether Myanmar moves towards negotiations or deeper conflict, the combination of low-cost air power, widespread civilian vulnerability and an accumulating international evidence base will shape what comes next.
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