The United Nations special envoy on Myanmar says she will not visit the Southeast Asia nation again unless its military government allows her to meet with ousted leader Aung San
UN envoy warns of possible civil war in Myanmar, seeks talks
EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press
May 24, 2021
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. special envoy for Myanmar warned Monday of possible civil war in the country, saying people are arming themselves against the military junta and protesters have started shifting from defensive to offensive actions, using homemade weapons and training from some ethnic armed groups.
Chrisrine Schraner Burgener told a virtual U.N. news conference that people are starting self-defense actions because they are frustrated and fear attacks by the military, which carried out a coup on Feb. 1 against the democratically elected government, and is using “a huge scale of violence.”
The crackdown would appear to indicate determination by the military to impose its authority in the face of defiance, not just on the streets but more broadly in society.