Burma: demonstration of force by the junta which promises to “annihilate” the opponents

The Burmese junta engaged in a show of force, promising to‘”annihilate” its opponents, Sunday March 27, on the occasion of the day of the army, theater in 2021 of a bloody repression against the demonstrations pro-democracy.

More than 8,000 members of the security forces, tanks, trucks carrying missiles and artillery pieces paraded on the gigantic arteries of Naypyidaw, the capital built by the former military regime in the early 2000s.

Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, in full dress, inspected his troops from an open 4×4 as warplanes flew overhead, displaying the yellow, red and green colors of the national flag. The junta “will no longer negotiate (…) and will annihilate until the end” opponents, said the general who overthrew civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021.

More than 1,700 civilians killed in one year

The last day of the army, March 27, 2021, had given rise to the deadliest repression since the coup. Some 160 demonstrators were killed that day by the security forces, according to a local NGO, the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP).

Burma has descended into chaos since the generals’ putsch. More than 1,700 civilians were killed and nearly 13,000 arrested according to the AAPP, the UN denouncing “probable war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

This Sunday, only a dozen protesters launched flares in Yangon, the economic capital, chanting anti-junta slogans, according to images posted on social networks. Other protesters called on people to cut off the electricity from 8:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. local time as a sign of resistance.

Guerrilla actions against the regime

Despite the repression, large portions of the territory still escape the control of the generals, fourteen months after their passage in force. Citizen militias supported by ethnic minorities have taken up arms in several regions and are carrying out guerrilla actions against the regime.

The soldiers respond. “In recent weeks, there have been increasing reports of the military’s use of airstrikes and heavy weaponry causing civilian casualties and property loss”notes Human Rights Watch in a statement issued on the occasion of the day of the army.

This violence has displaced “more than 500,000 people”according to the NGO which deplores that the junta “deliberately blocks aid to populations (…) as a form of collective punishment”.

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