Myanmar civil war death toll passes 100,000, ACLED data shows
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project reports 100,114 fatalities since the 2021 military coup, making it Asia's deadliest ongoing conflict.
The toll
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED), an American NGO that tracks political violence through media reports, said on Wednesday that 100,114 people have been killed in Myanmar since the military seized power in 2021. The figure covers all sides in the conflict and marks the first time a comprehensive count has crossed the 100,000 threshold. ACLED's data, released on 1 July 2026, reflects the scale of a war that has drawn in dozens of armed groups and displaced millions.
How the conflict began
Myanmar's decade of democratic transition ended abruptly on 1 February 2021, when the army overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and detained the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Mass street protests erupted across the country, but security forces responded with lethal force. The crackdown pushed many pro-democracy activists out of the cities and into the countryside, where they took up arms alongside ethnic armed organisations that had been fighting the central government for decades.
A fractured resistance
The opposition now consists of a loose coalition of urban defectors, student groups, and long-established ethnic armies such as the Karen National Union and the Arakan Army. Fighting has spread from border regions into the central plains, and the junta has responded with air strikes and artillery barrages. Analysts cited by the reporting organisations describe the conflict as the deadliest currently underway in Asia, surpassing even the war in Afghanistan in terms of annual fatalities.
No official count
There is no official death toll from either the military junta or the opposition National Unity Government. Estimates vary widely, and independent verification is difficult because of restricted access to conflict zones. ACLED's tally is based on incidents reported by local and international media, meaning the true number is likely higher. The organisation has previously warned that its figures are conservative.
A five-year war
The conflict has now lasted five years, with no sign of a negotiated settlement. The junta controls the main cities but faces daily attacks in rural areas. International sanctions have failed to dislodge the generals, while the resistance remains fragmented. The 100,114 figure, while staggering, is widely seen as an undercount of the true human cost.
