How four years of war reduced Myanmar cities and towns to rubble

Satellite imagery shows how fire, shelling, and airstrikes have wrecked towns, cities and villages in resistance strongholds throughout the country.

When Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup d’etat in February 2021, residents of the western town of Thantlang were quick to mobilise, forming several resistance groups to counter the military offensive. 

The town – located in the Christian-majority state of Chin – became a resistance stronghold. But like many other towns and cities across Myanmar, this came at a cost. 

Satellite imagery reveals how the once bustling Thantlang now resembles a ghost town. 

The town’s proximity to Camp Victoria – the headquarters of the Chin National Front (CNF) and a strategic area on the Myanmar-India border –  and its alignment with pro-democracy forces, soon made it a focal point of military aggression. 

Clashes erupted between local resistance forces and the military in September 2021. In the weeks and months that followed, military forces shelled Thantlang. 

Satellite imagery, shown below, showed plumes of thick black smoke above the town in December 2021. By then, the Chinland Defence Force (CDF) claimed a total of 548 out of approximately 2,000 homes had been destroyed, with four churches and a high school also reduced to rubble. 

Thantlang is not an isolated example. 

Myanmar Witness has mapped and assessed damage to nine towns and cities – and in some cases, their surrounding villages – across six regions of Myanmar. Most of the destroyed towns or cities are located in areas where resistance forces are most active, or at strategic locations, such as near key roads or rivers, or close to borders with neighbouring countries. 

The current conflict in Myanmar is made up of a patchwork of both old and new armed organisations. Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAO) are groups that have been engaged in longstanding conflicts over territorial control in the country’s ethnic states. The People’s Defence Force (PDF) constitutes a series of regional fighting divisions within Myanmar, some of which existed prior to the February 2021 coup. 

In December 2024, a BBC World investigation found that the military had full control of less than a quarter of Myanmar’s territory. While the military controls key urban areas like Yangon, Naypyidaw and Mandalay, the border regions are mostly controlled by EAOs, multiple resistance groups, or are contested. 

Schools and hospitals destroyed

Open source analysis carried out by Myanmar Witness, which draws on satellite imagery, media reporting, and user-generated content (UGC) from social media, reveals how cities, towns and villages in resistance strongholds or contested areas have been damaged or destroyed by airstrikes, shelling and fire after four years of war. 

Many of the areas of destruction recorded by Myanmar Witness represented flashpoints of resistance during the 2021 coup, when pro-democracy demonstrations spread across the country. 

In Demoso, Kayah State (Karenni), tens of thousands of protesters, including multiple town administrators, publicly opposed military rule in February 2021. 

Peaceful protests soon morphed into armed resistance, and Demoso became a key battleground between the Myanmar military and local resistance forces. Since then, shelling, airstrikes and fire have damaged or destroyed homes, schools, churches, and hospitals, as well as infrastructure such as bridges.

The Myanmar military’s struggle to exert control over areas of resistance has seen airstrikes emerge as a key part of its offensive. From what is known, the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) is the only entity in Myanmar that can conduct airstrikes within the country using fighter jets and attack helicopters.

A military operation launched in September 2024, designed to reclaim territory lost to resistance forces, saw areas of Kayah State and southern Shan State hit by airstrikes, causing at least a dozen fatalities and significant destruction of homes and shelters in an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp. 

Such incidents appear to be an attempt to “pacify people through fear”, says Robert Dolan, Project Director at Myanmar Witness.

“This destruction is wholly disproportionate, with airstrikes flattening not only civilian homes but key infrastructure such as schools, churches and hospitals,” Dolan adds. 

Widespread destruction of homes and critical infrastructure in Demoso and the broader state has led to a displacement crisis, with 133,500 estimated to be internally displaced in Kayah state as of 17 March 2025. Satellite imagery from January 2024 shows IDPs camped on roadsides in West Demoso, though Myanmar Witness has not revealed those images for security purposes. 

Airstrikes remain a constant threat even for those who have fled their homes. There have been multiple reports of IDP camps hit by airstrikes in Demoso, including in July 2023, and more recently in March 2025, which allegedly killed five civilians, including two 10-year-old children. 

Burning villages

Myanmar Witness analysis reveals how the Sagaing region, often described as the “epicentre” of the conflict, has seen consistently high rates of violence since 2021. Reports suggest it has become a centre of resistance against military rule, with local youth forming PDFs to oppose the military. 

Airstrikes, arson and fear campaigns have emerged as common tactics used by the military in the region, leaving behind a trail of destruction. 

The region is strategically important as it is located between two rivers: the Irrawaddy to the east and the Chindwin to the west. These waterways serve as vital routes for transporting goods, people and military supplies.

Fire in particular has been central to the Myanmar military’s modus operandi – with its weaponisation used not only to destroy homes and villages, but as a tool to subjugate local populations and spread fear among them.

Myanmar Witness has documented and verified a disproportionate number of fire incidents in Sagaing compared with other regions. Reporting by Data for Myanmar further supports these findings. Between May 2021 and June 2024, researchers recorded over 95,400 civilian homes that had been destroyed by arson in Myanmar. More than 70% were located in Sagaing. 

Townships such as Kawlin and Tigyaing have seen widespread fire destruction. 

Satellite imagery shows active fire and visible smoke above Kawlin on 19 February 2024. Ten days later, smoke was still visible to the town’s north, and multiple areas of Kawlin appeared destroyed, according to Myanmar Witness analysis. 

Kawlin was reportedly recaptured by military forces on 12 February 2024, after over a week of intense fighting, but violence appeared to continue in the weeks that followed. In March 2024, reports emerged of the military conducting village raids on the outskirts of Kawlin, as well as airstrikes targeting homes and a school.

NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System, or FIRMS – which shows active fire locations and thermal anomalies in near real-time – indicated dozens of heat signals from fires throughout February and March 2024.

In Kale, western Sagaing, satellite imagery shows how the inner town remains intact, while entire neighbourhoods and villages on the outskirts have been damaged or destroyed.

According to open source analysis carried out by Data for Myanmar, as of 30 June 2024, 49 villages in the Kale township have experienced arson, resulting in the destruction of 5,588 civilian homes. 

Villages in the southern part of the township, which borders the Magway region, experienced “widespread arson and destruction” in 2021 and 2022, while the northern villages, bordering Chin State, saw an increase in fire incidents by 2024. 

Strategic importance

The areas damaged are not only resistance strongholds but also hold strategic significance. 

The town of Kawkareik in Kayin State links the rest of Myanmar with Myawaddy, a key trading centre on the border with Thailand. Kawkareik is at the junction of an older road that runs to the Thai border, and a newer stretch of road that is part of the Asian Highway Network, a cooperative project between several Asian countries. 

Since late 2021, fighting has escalated in Kawkareik between the military and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). During the Battle of Kawkareik in October 2022, reports emerged that EAOs and resistance groups had attacked government housing and security checkpoints along the town’s main road. The military reportedly responded with airstrikes, artillery and armoured vehicles. 

Kawkareik has been described by some as a “recurring battleground” due to its strategic importance and proximity to Myawaddy. Renewed clashes in December 2023 saw significant destruction to homes and infrastructure, after the military launched mortar shells and airstrikes at the town, with reports of nearly 20,000 residents displaced. 

Since then, the military’s withdrawal from nearby Myawaddy and intensifying clashes between its forces and the KNLA have led to the military using shelling and drone strikes in nearby village tracts, resulting in civilian casualties, displacement of villagers, and the closure of schools due to safety concerns.

“What is clear from our analysis is that the SAC is targeting areas where it feels it is losing control, which are often resistance strongholds,” says Dolan. 

In February 2025, local news outlets reported that the Myanmar military was stockpiling drones to use in ‘Operation Aung Zay Ya’, an offensive launched in April 2024 to retake part of the Asian Highway 1 that connects Myawaddy and Kawkareik. 

On the other side of the country, in Rakhine State, the Arakan Army (AA) has claimed control over strategic areas, including Maungdaw and Buthidaung, aiming to establish dominance along the border with Bangladesh.

Satellite imagery shows that most of Buthidaung town has been burnt. According to the UN, the burning started on 17 May 2024, two days after the military had retreated and the AA claimed to have taken full control. However, the AA denied its role in the fires, claiming they were a result of a military airstrike. The AA has reportedly turned on the Rohingya minority in areas it controls, allegedly shelling villages and forcing thousands to flee their homes in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships.

Displacement crisis

The destruction of towns and villages across Myanmar has led to a displacement crisis, with 2.6 million people estimated to be internally displaced. In some cases, residents have returned to their homes only to be displaced for a second time when fighting flares up again. 

“By razing entire villages, killing scores of civilians, and forcing countless numbers of people to flee, societies are being destroyed in pursuit of war aims,” says Dolan. 

Human rights organisations have drawn attention to the Myanmar military’s use of the longstanding “four cuts” strategy. It is aimed at restricting access to food, funding, information and recruits in a bid to hamper support for armed resistance groups and turn civilians against the resistance movement. 

The destruction of entire cities and villages across Myanmar has consequences on multiple levels, notes Dolan, with local governance “effectively disabled”. 

“It highlights how the SAC seems determined to chip away at the building blocks of society, to cause division within communities. By destroying the physical buildings that ensure local governance can continue, the military knows that this will also deal a huge psychological blow.”