Myanmar villagers fleeing anti-coup violence may starve in jungle amid supply shortages
Thousands of residents have left their homes as fighting rages between the military and anti-coup fighters in Chin State
As global condemnation of the coup continues, South Korean survivors of the Gwangju massacre are keeping Myanmar in their thoughts on the 41st anniversary of the uprising
At Miss Universe Pageant, Myanmar s Contestant Pleads Our People Are Being Shot by Military I would like to urge everyone to speak about Myanmar. As Miss Universe Myanmar since the coup, I have been speaking out as much as I can, she said.
Ma Thuzar Wint Lwin, Miss Universe Myanmar, holds the Pray for Myanmar sign during Miss Universe pageant s national costume show, in Hollywood, Florida, U.S., May 13, 2021 in this screengrab taken from a handout video. Courtesy MISS UNIVERSE/Handout via Reuters
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Myanmar’s Miss Universe contestant, Thuzar Wint Lwin, used the pageant on Sunday to urge the world to speak out against the military junta, whose security forces have killed hundreds of opponents since it seized power in a February 1 coup.
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Australia-based security-risk consultant Ross Milosevic has worked across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East for almost three decades but his focus has often remained on Myanmar, which has been torn apart by the February 1 military coup.
The bloody protests that followed have pushed Myanmar to the brink of nationwide civil war, with the many ethnic insurgents and ousted politicians rallying against the generals through the establishment of the National Unity Government and the People’s Defense Force.
Those military leaders – Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Soe Win, Brigadier General Than Oo and Brigadier General Aung Aung – also head the list of those most wanted by United Nations-backed investigators for the ethnic cleansing of more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims.
Myanmar Seizes Western Town After Heated Battle with Civilian Militia
The rise of the Chinland Defense Force reflects a trend of growing armed resistance to the military junta.
May 17, 2021
A farmer herding cattle in Mindat Township, Chin State, the focus of recent clashes between the Myanmar military and a local civilian militia.
Credit: Flickr/Adam Cohn
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After fierce fighting, Myanmar’s military yesterday entered a small town in western Chin State which has been in open rebellion against the country’s military junta since last month.
According to Radio Free Asia, the Myanmar armed forces, or Tatmadaw, pounded the town of Mindat with heavy artillery and helicopter gunships, in an attempt to displace a local ethnic militia that has arisen to resist the February 1 military coup. Home to around 20,000 people, Mindat lies in the mountains of western Myanmar’s Chin state around 100 kilometers from the border with India.