Burma civilians learn how to respond to government airstrikes. Photo courtesy of Free Burma Rangers.Myanmar’s former junta chief and 2021 coup leader, Min Aung Hlaing, has recast himself as the country’s civilian president following elections widely derided as a sham. He is seeking international recognition ahead of this week’s UN General Assembly and has met with Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi, and Vladimir Putin.While countries aligned with China and Russia may recognize Min Aung Hlaing’s government, securing recognition in the West presents significant obstacles. One is U Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s permanent representative to the United Nations. He was appointed on October 20, 2020, by the elected government of President Win Myint. Following the February 2021 military coup, Kyaw Moe Tun publicly broke with the junta during a February 26 address to the UN General Assembly. He now represents Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel administration formed after the coup by ousted elected lawmakers and representatives of ethnic groups.Since December 2021, the UN General Assembly’s Credentials Committee has annually deferred its decision on competing claims to Myanmar’s UN seat, allowing Kyaw Moe Tun to retain the position over the junta’s nominee. The committee most recently deferred the matter on December 12, 2025.Since December 2021, the UN General Assembly’s Credentials Committee has annually deferred its decision on competing claims to Myanmar’s UN seat, allowing Kyaw Moe Tun to retain the position. The committee most recently deferred the matter on December 12, 2025. Kyaw Moe Tun has also refused to surrender control of Myanmar’s UN mission building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.Myanmar’s military-backed government sent letters to UN Secretary-General António Guterres in July and again this month, accusing Kyaw Moe Tun of misappropriating $2.6 million. The letters called him a “fugitive,” a “thief,” and a “traitor.” The government said it was in contact with Interpol and has repeatedly attempted to freeze the mission’s bank account.Min Aung Hlaing also remains subject to international sanctions and potential criminal proceedings. The United States sanctioned him on February 11, 2021, under Executive Order 14014, freezing his US assets and prohibiting transactions with him. Washington subsequently imposed sanctions on additional military officials, their family members, and military-affiliated businesses, including during a February 2023 round marking the second anniversary of the coup.The European Union sanctioned him on March 22, 2021, imposing an asset freeze and barring him from entering or transiting EU territory. In November 2024, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor requested an arrest warrant against him for the alleged crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya between August and December 2017.ICC judges have not ruled on the request, according to the most recent available reporting. If they issue the warrant, ICC member states would be legally obligated to arrest Min Aung Hlaing if he entered their territory.Although the United States is not an ICC member and would not be bound by that obligation, Washington reserves the right to enforce ICC warrants and has not extended any specific protection from such warrants to Min Aung Hlaing or anyone else associated with Myanmar’s junta.The list of potential crimes against humanity attributed to Min Aung Hlaing is extensive. More than 100,000 people have been killed and nearly four million displaced in Myanmar’s civil war. Over the past month alone, Myanmar’s military has carried out a string of documented attacks on religious figures, displaced civilians, and civilian infrastructure, continuing a pattern that United Nations investigators describe as deliberate targeting rather than incidental battlefield harm.On August 21, a military jet dropped two bombs on a monastery in Swel Le Oh village, Myaung Township, Sagaing Region, where more than 100 people had gathered for a weeklong Buddhist Lent retreat.Fourteen people were killed and 20 injured, according to the Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung Township. A villager reported the aircraft “dropped two bombs on the village 15 minutes apart.” Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected criticism of the strike, claiming its forces “exercise maximum restraint to avoid civilian harm” and target only “terrorists.”Less than a month later, on September 16, a fighter jet from Meiktila Air Base bombed a monastery compound in Hnamasaryit village, Shwebo Township, as villagers gathered to celebrate the opening of a clean-water plant the resident abbot had personally overseen.Three people were killed, including the 43-year-old abbot and two village elders, and eight were injured, according to Burma News International. A resident said the jet “deliberately bombed the site” during the ceremony; junta infantry followed the airstrike with artillery fire on the same location. Local sources said no fighting was occurring nearby at the time.Christian clergy have also been targeted. On September 14, soldiers shot and killed Rev. Dal Thawn Tuang, assistant pastor of Lamzang Baptist Church in Chin State, according to International Christian Concern, whose account was confirmed by the Burma Research Institute.Civilians displaced by the fighting have not been spared. On September 6, junta aircraft bombed homes in Mezali village, Mindon Township, Magway Region, followed roughly 30 minutes later by two motorized paragliders that opened fire with machine guns — the first use of paramotors reported in that township.One internally displaced woman, who had earlier fled fighting in a neighboring Arakan Army-held township, was killed; a second was seriously wounded. Residents said there was no active combat in the area at the time.In western Myanmar, the Irrawaddy reported that airstrikes across Rakhine State’s Thandwe and Gwa townships killed 45 civilians and injured 101 between July 10 and mid-August. An August 10 strike on Kyaukgyi village killed 16 people, including two children, while an August 13 strike on Gwa town killed eight members of one family, including two children. Analysts cited by the Irrawaddy described the campaign as a deliberate attempt to pressure the Arakan Army following a 100-day ultimatum that Min Aung Hlaing issued to armed groups earlier this year.On August 11, the UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar reported that its investigators had documented military attacks on homes, schools, hospitals, religious buildings, and displacement camps between July 2025 and June 2026. Drawing on more than 1,600 sources, including over 750 witness accounts, investigators also documented torture and sexual violence in military detention facilities. The report noted the military’s growing use of motorized paragliders and drones, which give civilians little or no warning before an attack.Separately, a Myanmar Witness investigation identified 96 incidents involving children between September 2025 and April 2026. These attacks resulted in 214 child casualties, with 85 killed and 129 injured. The Myanmar Air Force was the most frequently identified perpetrator.The junta has consistently denied targeting civilians, portraying its operations as counterterrorism campaigns against armed resistance groups. However, local sources reported that no active fighting was taking place during the attacks in Shwebo, Mindon, and Rakhine, undermining that defense. So does the choice of targets: a water-plant dedication, a Buddhist retreat, and a home sheltering someone who had already been displaced once.The post Myanmar Junta Seeks Recognition as Civilian Bombings Continue appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.