Fighters from Myanmar’s Karen ethnic minority have burned down a government military outpost after capturing it without a fight when its garrison fled, a senior Karen officer said.
The position is about nine miles from a larger camp which the Karen National Liberation Army stormed and burned 10 days earlier.
The KNLA is the armed wing of the Karen National Union, the main political organisation representing the Karen minority, whose homeland is in eastern Myanmar.
The Karen and the Kachin in northern Myanmar are the two major ethnic armed organisations that have allied themselves with the movement against the junta that took power in Myanmar after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February.
YANGON: A newly formed armed militia under Myanmar’s shadow government is gaining the support of community self-defense groups and ethnic armies against the military junta that seized control of the country more than three months ago.
Since the coup on Feb. 1, the junta has killed at least 772 civilians during nationwide protests against the army takeover and violence.
The National Unity Government (NUG), the shadow government of former lawmakers of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) who were ousted by the junta, announced on Wednesday the formation of the People’s Defense Force (PDF), a precursor to the planned Federal Union Army that would bring together all groups involved in armed resistance.
Myanmar s anti-junta unity government forms defence force
Reuters | May 05, 2021 11:56 PM EDT
A protester flashes a three-finger salute during a march to protest against Myanmar military coup, in Taipei, Taiwan, (Photo : REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo)
Myanmar s National Unity Government (NUG), set up by opponents of army rule, said on Wednesday it had formed a people s defence force to protect its supporters from military attacks and violence instigated by the junta.
Since the military seized power and ousted an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, Myanmar has seen daily protests and a surge of violence with security forces killing hundreds of civilians.
Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), set up by opponents of army rule, said on Wednesday it had formed a “people’s defence force” to protect its supporters from military attacks and violence instigated by the military government.
Since the military seized power and ousted an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, Myanmar has seen daily protests and a surge of violence with security forces killing hundreds of civilians.
The NUG said the new force was a precursor to a Federal Union Army and that it had a responsibility to end decades-old civil wars and deal with “military attacks and violence” by the ruling State Administration Council (SAC) against its people.
Myanmar s shadow government, formed by ousted lawmakers, says it has set up a people s defence force to protect civilians from military attacks.
In a statement on Wednesday, the National Unity Government stressed it has a responsibility to end the military regime s violence as well as the decades-old civil war.
It also says the new defence force is the first step toward building a Federal Union Army to counter the attacks by security forces. Since the military coup seized power on February 1st, detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically-elected leaders there has been a deadly surge in violence.
According to the human rights group, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, so far more than seven-hundred people, including dozens of children, have been killed during violent crackdowns on anti-coup protests.