Myanmar’s military launched airstrikes during the weekend after clashes with anti-junta fighters erupted in the Sagaing region, according to a militia member. Phone lines and internet services were also severed in some districts.
DVB reported that the airstrikes were launched as the army staged an offensive in the Pinlebu area of Sagaing, located in northwestern Myanmar. The news portal cited accounts of residents who heard aircraft and explosions on Saturday, a night before the suspension of phone lines and the internet.
However, Myanmar’s junta government has denied suspending internet in the region. Instead, it blamed the recent spew of data blackouts on pro-democracy protesters for damaging several military-owned communications towers. “The recent internet connections were disrupted due to the terrorist acts such as destruction of communication towers by terrorist groups...The ministry urged some foreign missions in Yangon to verify the information before making statements,” the junta said in a statement.
Moreover, the National Unity Government (NUG), the country’s shadow government comprised of ousted lawmakers and others opposed to the junta, announced the seizure of an arms cache that included a rocket-propelled grenade, small arms, and shells. It also said that more than 25 government soldiers had been killed.
Bloodshed in regions like Sagaing has increased after the NUG declared an uprising on September 7 and called on public defence forces to target the ruling military and its assets.
“With the responsibility to protect life and properties of the people, the National Unity Government launched a people’s defensive war against the military junta,” Duwa Lashi La, president of the NUG, said in a video address in early September. “As this is a public revolution, all the citizens within entire Myanmar revolt against the rule of the military terrorists led by Min Aung Hlaing in every corner of the country,” he added, urging civil servants to resign from government positions.
The airstrikes continued even as all parties in the country agreed to a ceasefire. Earlier this month, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) special envoy to Myanmar, Erywan Yusof, said his proposal for a four-month ceasefire by all sides in Myanmar’s conflict had been accepted by the country’s military government. The ceasefire aimed at enabling the smooth delivery of the first batch of humanitarian assistance.
Myanmar spiralled into chaos on February 1 after the country’s military seized control of the government for one year, and many high-level politicians, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, were placed under house arrest. The coup was attributed to the failure of the government to act on the military’s questionable claims of voter fraud in the election conducted last November, when the National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide victory with 83% of votes. Due to the election result, the military viewed the NLD as eroding its influence and sought to reinforce its dominance via a coup.
Since then, more than 1,100 people protesting against the coup have been killed by security forces, and ASEAN has been trying to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.
Myanmar Military Launches Airstrikes, Internet Blackouts in Several Areas
Myanmar’s military launched airstrikes in the country’s northwest. Phone lines and the internet were also disconnected in some districts.
September 28, 2021
SOURCE: REUTERS