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At slightest 170 civilians were killed successful much than 400 military aerial strikes conducted successful Myanmar during astir 2 months surrounding its widely-criticised elections, the United Nations said connected Friday (January 30, 2026).
The UN rights bureau said "credible sources" had verified that astatine slightest "170 civilians were killed successful immoderate 408 subject aerial attacks reported by unfastened sources during the voting play — betwixt December 2025 and January 2026".
James Rodehaver, caput of the rights office's Myanmar team, warned that the existent numbers mightiness beryllium higher.
Speaking from Bangkok, helium told reporters successful Geneva that the verification covered a play from December to precocious past week, from the opening of the predetermination run and up until the 3 phases of voting were astir complete.
But helium warned that "because of the mode successful which communications are chopped disconnected and due to the fact that of, frankly, the fearfulness of individuals successful immoderate of these locations to talk to us, it sometimes takes a batch longer to get that information".
His comments came amid planetary outrage implicit Myanmar's month-long ballot that ideology watchdogs dismissed arsenic a rebranding of service rule, 5 years aft a coup that ousted fashionable antiauthoritarian figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi.
UN rights main Volker Turk warned successful a connection connected Friday (January 30) that "the profound and wide despair inflicted connected the radical of Myanmar" since the 2021 coup "has lone deepened with the caller predetermination staged by the military".
He pointed retired that "many radical chose either to ballot oregon not to ballot purely retired of fear, flatly astatine likelihood with their internationally guaranteed civilian and governmental rights — and with ripple effects connected their enjoyment of economic, societal and taste rights".
"The struggle and insecurity continued unabated successful ample parts of the country. Opposition candidates and immoderate taste groups were excluded," helium said.
His bureau pointed retired that the elections were held successful lone 263 of 330 townships, and often exclusively successful municipality centres nether subject control, and constricted successful struggle areas.
"As a result, ample segments of the population, particularly the displaced and minorities, specified arsenic the taste Rohingya, were excluded," it pointed out.
Turk decried that 5 years of subject regularisation successful Myanmar had been "characterised by repression of governmental dissent, wide arbitrary arrests, arbitrary conscription, wide surveillance and regulation of civic space".
"Now, the subject is seeking to entrench its rule-by-violence aft forcing radical to the ballot box," helium said.
"This couldn't beryllium further from civilian rule."
