Revolution in Myanmar

Thousands of people gather in downtown Yangon, Myanmar, to protest against the military coup, which had taken place six days earlier.

Protesters in front of the Central Bank of Myanmar in Yangon demand the release of political prisoners, including democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi (pictured on the poster). Protestors also called for bank employees to join the civil disobedience movement. Many employees of private banks had already joined, causing branch operations to halt.

Anti-coup protesters handed flowers to riot police saying, “you are the people’s police,” in Yangon, Myanmar. 

Protesters run from tear gas deployed by security forces during an anti-coup rally in Yangon, Myanmar. That day was the deadliest day of the protests up to that point, with at least 18 people killed. In addition, the police arrested two journalists and charged them with a law against defaming the military.

The wife of Tin Htut Hein mourns at his funeral service, on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar. Unknown gunmen shot him during his night shift with a community-founded vigilante security team. 

This photograph is not available online to protect the individuals photographed.

Anti-coup protesters prepare a wet blanket to catch oncoming teargas grenades during a confrontation with security forces in Yangon, Myanmar. 

A street vendor bangs pots at 8:00 p.m., in Yangon, Myanmar, a form of protest that spread across the country.

Villagers carrying homemade hunting rifles return from tactical training in Hpruso township, Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar. Around the country, citizens had joined People’s Defense Forces in armed opposition to military rule.

A house destroyed by the Myanmar military in Moe Bye, Shan State, Myanmar. The town was strategically important to the military as it gave them access to roads leading to areas where armed resistance was staunch. Moe Bye was the site of a number of clashes in the conflict and by mid-February 2022 almost all of its 28,000 residents had fled.

Children play near a cave where they shelter from Myanmar military airstrikes, at a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kayah (Karenni) State. At that point there were around 800,000 IDPs in Myanmar, including some 440,000 since the military coup, according to UNHCR.

A woman comforts her son after he has had his leg and hands amputated at a hospital in Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar. 

Daw Hla Win (34), a mother of three, stepped on a landmine as she returned to her village from collecting blankets at an IDP camp, in an area of intense fighting, in Shan State, Myanmar. Between February 2021 and September 2022, 157 civilians were killed and 395 injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war in Myanmar, according The Landmine Monitor Report 2022. About one-third of the casualties were children.

An unexploded bomb, dropped by a Myanmar military warplane, is seen at a remote camp of the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) in Kayah (Karenni) State. Between February 2021 and September 2022, 157 civilians were killed and 395 injured by such unexploded ordnance and landmines in Myanmar, according to The Landmine Monitor Report 2022. About one-third of the casualties were children.

Myanmar military forces torched the Roman Catholic Church in Dawnyaykhu village, Demoso, Kayah (Karenni) State, in June 2022. They also set fire to civilian houses and planted landmines in the village. Although traditionally Animist and Buddhist, a large proportion of the state’s population has converted to Christianity. Christian ethnic minorities face significant discrimination in Myanmar.

Family members pray for Ritar (59) during a burial service at a cemetery in Demoso, Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar. Artillery shells fired by the Myanmar military exploded next to Ritar the previous evening, as she was preparing to go out on a motorbike with her brother. Ritar died a few hours later, and her brother was seriously injured.⁣

Villagers cross a flooded creek with the help of an elephant, in Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar. Military authorities had cut off food, medical, and fuel supplies forcing villagers to use jungle routes to transport goods. Floods triggered by monsoon rains displaced approximately 60,000 people between mid-July and mid-August 2023 across Myanmar.

A woman living in a camp for internally displaced people walks back to her shelter after collecting a food donation ration, in Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar.

A resident of the strategically important and highly contested town of Moe Bye, in Shan State, Myanmar, drives by on his tractor, while fighters from resistance forces secure the area. Villagers had decided to resume farming to protect their livelihoods, despite the risk of artillery shelling and landmines from the Myanmar military.

Derelict vehicles still stand near Mo So, Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar, a year after they were found burnt outside the village. According to state media, the drivers had refused to stop at a checkpoint. A villager told Associated Press the victims had been fleeing fighting and heading to a refugee camp. Over 30 bodies were found, including two Save the Children staff members.

Paul Du (19) a rebel fighter with the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) rests under a tree on the front line, in Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar. He was injured by a Myanmar military artillery shell three days later.

Doctors and medical volunteers perform an operation in a secret jungle hospital in Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar. Pe Tal (32), a soldier from the Moe Bye People's Defense Force (PDF), stepped on a landmine during battle. The Myanmar military was reportedly deliberately targeting hospitals serving IDPs and resistance forces, hence the need for a secret location.

A fighter with the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) examines an unexploded mortar removed from the ground at Loikaw stadium in Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar. Fighters reportedly extract gunpowder from unexploded ordnance for reuse in weapons against the Myanmar military.

Karenni Army (KA) combatants dig up asphalt to plant homemade improvised explosive devices (IEDs) along the main Demoso–Hpruso road, in Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar. For two months, the Myanmar military has been trying to gain control of the highway, which was strategically important for ammunition supply.

A combat medic examines the body of a People's Defense Force (PDF) fighter killed during a battle in Operation 1111, in Loikaw, Kayah (Karenni) State. Operation 1111 was a military operation launched by several combined resistance forces to capture Loikaw, the capital city of Kayah State.

Naypyitaw People's Defense Force (PDF) fighters grieve during the funeral of their comrade, Zayya Kyaw, in an area controlled by a coalition of resistance forces, in Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar. Zayya Kyaw (25) was killed two days earlier during a battle in Yado village, nearby.

A fighter with the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) prepares for a Myanmar military attack, in Demoso, Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar, an area of staunch resistance to military rule.

The decomposing body of a soldier of the Myanmar army killed in Operation 1111 –  a military operation launched by several combined resistance forces to capture Loikaw – is seen in Loikaw, the capital of Kayah (Karenni) State.

Members of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) prepare to go to the front line, in Demoso, Kayah (Karenni) State, Myanmar.

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A Lost Place