Beirut: Myanmar's military has "intensified" its aerial bombing campaign since the ruling junta "reconfigured its military command structure in March," a conflict monitor said Monday.

According to Anadolu Agency, the US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) reported in a recent publication that a reprieve for civilians is unlikely as the junta focuses its efforts on consolidating control following coup leader Min Aung Hlaing's transition from commander of the military to civilian president in April. Min Aung Hlaing, the former Burmese military junta chief, was elected Myanmar's 11th president in April, after ruling Myanmar directly since 2021 when the military ousted the elected government.

Since the elections, the military has made tactical adjustments to its warfighting, including the regular deployment of specialized groups of two to five fighter jets to conduct sustained airstrikes against single targets, ACLED noted. Although fewer strikes are recorded because of the "repeated attacks on single targets," they are "deadlier to civilians and result in extensive damage to civilian infrastructure," it added.

The monitor predicted that the military's airstrikes and drone attacks would likely decrease during the monsoon season but resume after it ends in October, continuing through the rest of 2026 as the military seeks to retake lost territory. It warned that continued air campaigns and targeted attacks would displace more civilians in conflict areas, forcing some to flee to neighboring countries, while others would face worsening humanitarian conditions, including limited access to healthcare and growing food insecurity.

Myanmar authorities had not immediately responded to the report. Clashes between ethnic armed groups and Myanmar's military have intensified since the February 2021 coup that ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. The takeover plunged the country into more than four years of emergency rule, which officially ended last July. More than 6,000 people have been killed and nearly three million displaced in fighting between the military authorities and opposition groups since the coup, according to rights monitors.