Weekly Analysis: Forced Conscription Ramps Up in Mon State

May 5, 2025

The military junta is targeting youth to fight on the battlefields amid their ongoing losses of key territory and strategic positions. In target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), the regime’s recruitment efforts are taking a toll on youth, including women who are now also being forced to enlist. The rate of extortion, bribery, and illegal conduct by the Burmese Military is part of their brutal campaign intended to isolate and instill fear in innocent communities across the country.

In Mon State, the military junta and its appointed local administrators are intensifying efforts to forcibly recruit civilians and extort money under the guise of military conscription. These actions are linked to the regime’s plan to initiate the 13th round of People’s Military Service training, with local authorities across townships starting to collect money or individuals through coercion.

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Weekly Analysis: Attacks in Karen State by the Military Junta Kill Women and Children

April 21, 2025

Over the last week, attacks in targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland escalated, particularly in Karen State. The military junta has not only continued to violate the ceasefire it declared following the earthquake, but they have also exhibited an alarming disregard for civilian lives and their overall well-being. Airstrikes and aerial attacks by the military across townships in Karen State led to the deaths and injuries of women and children.

On April 16, 2025, just after 12:40 PM, the junta launched yet another airstrike targeting civilians in Karen State, this time dropping bombs on Myaukkanmayaik village, Kawkareik Township, using a Harbin Y-12 aircraft. A pregnant woman, just days away from giving birth, was tragically killed on the spot. At least six other civilians were seriously injured, including a 7-year-old child. The attack occurred during the traditional Thingyan New Year festival, when most villagers were home participating in religious and cultural ceremonies.

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Weekly Analysis: Artillery Shells Fired by the Junta Leave Civilians in Fear and Force Displacement

April 14, 2025

People in Burma are reeling in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake as the number of those killed, wounded and missing continues to rise. And yet, the military junta has continued to fire relentlessly upon innocent civilians across the country. In targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, the military has fired upon homes and villages, further displacing innocent communities.

Two civilians were injured, and a home was destroyed after junta troops launched artillery shells into a village in Mon State’s Thanbyuzayat Township. The attack occurred on the evening of April 5, at 6 PM, when artillery fired from the Waekalee-based military command exploded inside the residential area of Kalaing Padaw village. There was no active fighting in the area at the time.

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Weekly Analysis: Airstrikes, Artillery Attacks Persist in the Aftermath of the Earthquake in Burma

April 7, 2025

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake across Burma on 28 March 2025 was the latest in a series of catastrophic events for innocent civilians. The natural disaster follows Typhoon Yagi, which flooded communities nationwide at the end of last year. In the aftermath, local people are being bombarded with attacks from the air and ground by the terrorist junta. There are significant risks for civilians who have been repeatedly displaced and are fearful of further assaults. Even amidst earthquake relief efforts, the junta has not hesitated to fire upon innocent villagers.

During these difficult times, the junta insists on war. Only a dictator as ruthless as coup leader Min Aung Hlaing would seek attacks on the most vulnerable during a dark moment as survivors grieve and attempt to cope in the aftermath of the earthquake.

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Weekly Analysis: Increasing Use of Drone Attacks by the Military Junta Raises Alarm in Local Communities

March 24, 2025

Due to the junta’s extensive losses on the battlefield, the terrorist military junta is turning to other forms of attacks, primarily from the air. Their dependence on advanced weaponry and surveillance from countries like China, India, and Russia has been devastating for local communities who are the regime’s targets. In specific areas noted by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi Region, civilians are being maimed by drone strikes carried out by the junta.

The military in Mon State has intensified its drone attacks on villages in Kyaikhto Township despite no active clashes in the area. These targeted strikes have led to civilian injuries, the destruction of homes and public infrastructure, and significant damage to livelihoods, including farms and businesses.

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Weekly Analysis: Landmines Post Life-Threatening Risks to Conflict-Affected Communities in Southeastern Burma

March 17, 2025

Over the last week in targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland, including Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi Region, civilians faced immense risks and threats to their lives due to landmines. The military junta deliberately places and hides landmines and unexploded ordnance devices in civilian areas to instill fear and uncertainty.

Many who accidentally step do so while on their way to work or tend to their harvests. The explosions have injured and killed men, women and children. Survival rates are low, and treatment is costly and painful. Further, survivors face additional barriers in earning an income and fleeing during attacks by the junta.

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Weekly Analysis: Displaced Villagers Unable to Return Home in Conflict-Torn Mon State

March 10, 2025

Throughout targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi Region, attacks by the junta have been forcing civilians to flee. 

Despite no active fighting around Kyone Long (Old) village in Ye Township, Mon State, junta troops remain stationed in the area, preventing 456 displaced villagers from returning to their homes. Junta soldiers have set up camp at a monastery in Eye Poke village, creating an atmosphere of fear and insecurity for those who fled.

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Weekly Analysis: Airstrikes Wreak Havoc and Terror Across Southeastern Burma

February 24, 2025

February 2025 | Week Three

Over the past week, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) documented several instances of junta-deployed airstrikes in our targeted areas of Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region. According to a statement from the Karen National Union (KNU) Central, junta forces bombed three villages in Kyaikhto and Bilin Townships, Mon State, on February 13, despite the absence of ongoing clashes. The airstrikes resulted in three fatalities and ten injuries. On the same day, three 500-pound bombs were dropped on Pain Nae Kone and Kaw Kat villages in Kyaikhto Township, as well as Ta Gay Laung Chaung Phyar village in Bilin Township.

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Weekly Analysis: Young Men Increasingly Targeted in the Junta’s Illegal Forced Conscription Effort

February 17, 2025

February 2025 | Week Two

HURFOM: The military junta has lost significant gains and territory. Their response to their failing military strategy has been to increase airstrikes, which target civilians and have killed more than 107 people in January alone. The junta has also moved to increasing their abductions and arbitrary arrests of young men across the country, who are then forcibly enlisted and recruited into the regime without their consent.

In targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, the junta’s grasp for control is evident in its forced recruitment tactics. For instance, the military has started conducting mandatory military training for university lecturers, teachers, and students at Mawlamyine University in Mon State as part of its broader conscription efforts.

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Weekly Analysis: Women and Children Killed in Escalating Attacks by the Military Junta

February 10, 2025

Across Burma, civilians are facing ongoing threats to their safety and security. Women, children, and the elderly are particularly vulnerable, and the escalating offensives and attacks by the junta put them at greater risk. In targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, several incidents of assaults by the junta were reported this week, resulting in the deaths and injuries of multiple women and children.

In Ye Township, Mon State, three women, including two internally displaced persons (IDPs), were injured when junta troops indiscriminately fired heavy artillery into Wapathae Village, Baelamu Village Tract, despite no active fighting in the area. On the night of January 24, troops from the Junta’s Artillery Regiment No. 317, based in Ye Township, launched five artillery shells into Wapathae Village. The shells exploded inside the village, injuring:

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