Six opposition rebels have been killed after days of clashes in Myanmar, an anti-junta defence drive made up of civilians stated Sunday, as Britain and the United States condemned the navy’s violence in opposition to civilians. The nation has been in uproar because the navy ousted civilian chief Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 1 coup, triggering an enormous rebellion which authorities have sought to quell with deadly drive.
Some in the anti-junta motion have arrange native militias armed with home-made weapons to guard their cities from safety forces — which have killed at the very least 790 civilians in response to an area monitoring group. In the western state of Chin, the city of Mindat has emerged as a hotspot for unrest, the place some residents have shaped the Chinland Defence Force (CDF).
“Six members of our CDF who tried to guard the safety of the individuals in Mindat attacked (junta forces) and sacrificed their lives for the nationwide revolution,” stated a CDF assertion on Sunday.
A spokesman also told AFP that over 10 have been wounded this week, while five Mindat residents were arrested by the military.
With mobile data blocked across the country, details about the fighting have been slow to come out, and on-the-ground verification is made harder as locals are fearful of retaliation.
The spokesman, who declined to be named, said CDF fighters set fire to several army trucks, destroying them, and ambushed reinforcement troops, while the military has attacked the town with artillery.
By Sunday, the CDF had retreated into the jungle, he said.
“We will not stay any more in the town… but we will come back to attack soon,” he stated. “We solely have home-made weapons. This was not sufficient.”
He added that residents remaining in Mindat — which has been under martial law since Thursday — were afraid to leave their homes for fear of being targeted by the military.
– Violence ‘cannot be justified’ –
The US and UK embassies in Myanmar sounded the alarm Saturday on Mindat’s unrest, calling for security forces to cease violence.
“The military’s use of weapons of war against civilians, including this week in Mindat, is a further demonstration of the depths the regime will sink to to hold onto power,” the US embassy stated in a tweet Saturday.
“Attacks on civilians are unlawful and can’t be justified,” said the British embassy, referring to reports of violence from Mindat.
“Evidence of atrocities should be sent to the (United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar) so perpetrators can be held to account,” the embassy tweeted, referring to a committee that collects proof of worldwide crimes.
State-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Sunday {that a} navy tribunal can be convened to strive “perpetrators of terrorist assaults” in Mindat.
Security forces saw multiple attacks which left one man dead, said the newspaper, and an ambush on Friday by “1,000 rioters” killed some troopers — although it didn’t say what number of.
Across the nation, anti-coup protesters proceed to march for democracy — with demonstrators in northern Hpakant holding indicators that stated “Stay sturdy, Mindat”.
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