Death toll rising in all-out civil war

Reduced to rubble: The remains of a monastery destroyed by a military airstrike in Papun, Karen state. — AP

SIX months into an offensive against Myanmar’s military government, opposition forces have made massive gains, but civilian casualties are rising sharply as regime troops increasingly turn toward scorched-earth tactics in the South-East Asian country’s bitter civil war.

There is pressure on all fronts from powerful militias drawn from Myanmar’s ethnic minority groups and newer resistance forces. Troops are retaliating with air, naval and artillery strikes on hospitals and other facilities where the opposition could be sheltered or aided.