Conflicts & War

Myanmar’s parallel government alleges military massacred 15 in rebel zone

Singapore, Mar 6 (EFE).- Myanmar’s pro-democracy opposition group, the National Unity Government, Monday alleged that the military junta killed at least 15 people, including three women, early this month.

Soldiers committed the alleged “brutal massacre” in a town in the central Sagaing division, a stronghold of the rebels fighting the military.

A NUG statement sent to EFE said the killings occurred on Mar.1 and Mar.1 in Tartine town.

The NUG, which proclaims itself as the legitimate power in Myanmar after the February 2021 military coup, was established by elected lawmakers prevented from taking their seats when the army seized power.

It acts as an underground parallel national government in the military-ruled Southeast Asian nation.

The statement said the soldiers stationed in Htisong Village entered the Tataing village to arrest leaders of the People’s Defense Force, the loosely organized armed wing of the NUG.

The soldiers arrested PDF leader Michael Ko Kyaw Zaw, and “the remains of his dismembered body were found the next day,” said the statement.

The military “abducted 14 more locals, including three women” later.

“Their bodies were found with bullet wounds and signs of torture,” the statement said.

A NUG spokesperson, who did not want to reveal his identity, told EFE that “this is usually the modus operandi of the military: rape women before killing them.”

The NUG said such massacres were “becoming more frequent” and that the central regions had become one of the main scenes of clashes between the military and the rebels.

The military has redrafted a law revoked decades ago that allowed civilians “loyal to the state” to apply for firearm licenses.

The move is likely to aggravate the conflict in the country.

The Myanmar junta, led by general Min Aung Hlaing, seized power and imprisoned the civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military toppled the elected government, alleging massive fraud in the November 2020 elections. International observers endorsed the polls as free and fair.

The coup pushed the country into deep economic, political, and social crises along with a spiral of violence which aggravated the existing conflicts with ethnic minorities and triggered another war with the PDF.

Since the coup, more than 3,000 people have been killed by the military while 16,100 others remain imprisoned, according to the nonprofit Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). EFE

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