In Burma, the number of children killed by the junta increased in 2022

Demonstrators listen to anti-coup fighters behind a banner during a demonstration against the military coup in Sagaing township, Sagaing division in Myanmar on September 7, 2022. AFP or licensors

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The Burmese army killed 165 children in 2022, a figure up 78% compared to last year.

These figures, reported by the National Unity Government (NUG), the opposition in exile, are deemed credible by the NGO International crisis group. 

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Almost two years after the

, Burma disappeared from radar screens.

Yet war continues to rage in several states where the Burmese military opposes the People's Defense Forces (PDF), a multifaceted armed resistance group to the

.

And the youngest are not spared.

According to the NUG's analysis, most of the children died in artillery fire and airstrikes targeting schools in areas under the control of the opposition to the junta.

This was the case in September in Sagaing, in the north-west of the country, last November in Rakhine State in the west, or even in Kayah State, in the east of the country. one year old, on New Year's Eve, when dozens of children died.

Civilians deliberately targeted 

The opposition in exile denounces indiscriminate attacks, while the International crisis group describes these strikes, deliberately targeting civilians, as a collective punitive action against all those who dare to oppose the junta.

A UN report last June reported more than 140 child victims of torture and more than 1,400 children arbitrarily detained since the putsch carried out on February 1, 2021. 

►Also read: Burma: the UN Security Council calls for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi

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• Burma

• Human rights

• Children's rights