The civil war in Myanmar has churned for five years, with the military finding ever more creative ways to kill people who are fighting for democracy and an end to ethnic repression. But the conflict has garnered little attention compared with those in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Myanmar’s former army chief, U Min Aung Hlaing, staged a coup in 2021, ousting the elected government. That event catalyzed a full-blown war that has pitted the powerful military against hundreds of disparate rebel groups united in their mission to unseat the generals’ chosen government.
In April, Mr. Min Aung Hlaing maneuvered himself into the post of president after a stage-managed election, amid an effort to pitch the war-torn country as open for business. But the leadership changes — political window-dressing, really — occurred as the Southeast Asian nation suffered the highest monthly civilian death toll since the coup, according to human rights groups. Here’s where things stand:
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In 2025, Myanmar was the most world’s most extreme conflict zone, apart from the Palestinian territories, according to the conflict monitor A.C.L.E.D. More than 90,000 people have been killed since the civil war began five years ago. The war is also the most fragmented conflict in the world, with more than 1,200 armed groups on the ground, A.C.L.E.D. found. More than half the country is controlled by rebel militias, but intensifying military strikes over the past half year have threatened that patchwork of resistance.
