Myanmar wave of violence worsens with new air raids
VIOLENCE IN eastern Myanmar, including air raids that drove thousands of members of the Karen ethnic minority to seek shelter across the border in Thailand, have deepened with new air attacks by the military that seized power from an elected government last month.
Thailand’s prime minister denied that his country’s security forces had forced villagers who had fled from air strikes over the weekend back to Myanmar, saying they returned home of their own accord.
But the situation in eastern Myanmar appeared to be getting more dangerous.
Saw Taw Nee, head of the foreign affairs department of the Karen National Union (KNU), the main political body representing the Karen minority there, confirmed that new raids on Tuesday left six civilians dead and 11 wounded.
Dave Eubank, a member of the Free Burma Rangers, which provides medical assistance to villagers in the region, provided the same information.
Meanwhile, the US State Department on Tuesday ordered non-essential American diplomats and their families to leave Myanmar, expecting the protests to continue.
The US earlier suspended a trade deal and imposed sanctions on junta leaders as well as restricting business with military holding companies.
The KNU issued a statement from one of its armed units saying the government’s “military ground troops are advancing into our territories from all fronts”, and vowed to respond.
“We have no other options left but to confront these serious threats posed by the illegitimate military junta’s army in order to defend our territory, our Karen peoples, and their self-determination rights,” said the statement.
It said the attacks were the latest in a series of actions by Myanmar’s military breaking a ceasefire agreement. The KNU has been fighting for greater autonomy for the Karen people.
Protests, inset, continued despite the deaths of more than 100 people on Saturday alone.
Engineers, teachers and students from the technology university in the southern city of Dawei marched without incident.
The coup that ousted the government of Aung San Suu Kyi reversed the country’s progress towards democracy since her National League for Democracy party won elections in 2015 after five decades of military rule.