Conflicts & War

Myanmar junta chief vows to annihilate opposition during military parade

Bangkok, Mar 27 (EFE).- The head of Myanmar’s military junta, Min Aung Hlaing, on Sunday warned that the military would annihilate the opposition forces, who he called “terrorists,” in a speech marking the country’s Armed Forces Day.

As per a transcription published by local media, Hlaing said the military should punish the “internal insurgency and terrorism,” and that the regime would not negotiate but annihilate the “terrorist groups” that he accused of killing civilians.

The military, known as Tatmadaw, celebrated its 73rd anniversary with a massive parade, even as thousands of people protested on the streets across the country against the regime, which had seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021, after jailing most of the political leaders including Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

According to the nonprofit Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the Myanmar security forces have killed 1,707 people since the coup, while 12,970 have been arrested arbitrarily.

The Euopean Union, the United States and other countries including Canada and the United Kingdom on Sunday issued a joint statement urging the Mynamar military to stop violence and put the country back on the path to democracy.

The statement recalled victims of the violence unleashed by the regime, including severe repression on the occasion of the Armed Forces Day parade last year on people protesting across the country against the junta.

It comes a day after the US, Canda and US announced fresh economic sanctions against Myanmar’s military leaders and businessmen associated with the regime.

They also warned “some countries” for continuing to assist the junta and urged them to stop the sell of arms and military equipment to the regime, in an indirect reference to China and Russia.

Mynamar has been facing a deep sociopolitical and humanitarian crisis since the coup, which has brought into power a violent regime that has brutally suppressed oppositon and accelerated the armed conflict in the country.

The military has justified the coup by citing alleged fraud in the November 2020 general elections, in which Suu Kyi’s party had repeated its landslide victory of 2015, with internationl observers backing the results. EFE

bkk-esj/ia

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